Home field advantage: Sports’ most believed phenomenon

Everyone loves hearing their own friends in the fan section at a home game. The comfort of knowing whos watching you and that no matter what they will always support you can get teams through tough games. At a home game some people like to fall back on the “home field advantage.”

The home field advantage is having calls made in your favor, the comfort of your own fans in the stands and knowing the ins and outs of the field you are playing on. The home field advantage can easily be argued to determine the outcome of the game.

“You know how to win on your field and that is where you feel most comfortable,” junior Lindsay Fusco said. You practice every day on the same field and know the dips and divots and use that to your advantage. Players feel comfort in the familiarity of their own field.

In many big sporting events, like tournament  semifinals and championship games, home field advantage forces them to be played at a neutral site. Coordinators have to put into perspective traveling time and allowing both teams fair knowledge of the site.

“Every year for field hockey we have to travel for our big games,” junior Cameron Kinsella said. “It’s annoying having to travel, but I understand the need for somewhere neutral.” Players agree that even being the better team having to travel is frustrating, but they would rather a fair game.

Regardless of a home field advantage, most teams are ready for anything. High school sports know, leaving after school, that they may hit traffic and may arrive just in time for their game, but they are ready for that.

The Times found in one study that home teams are expected to score 37.29% more than an away team. This will change depending on the quality of the teams playing, but if it is an even match these statistics hold up.

“ I believe there are advantages to having a home game especially in high school, usually an away team has to travel so they will have less time to warm up,” said Physical Education teacher Toni-Anne Cavallo, who coaches girls lacrosse at Madison High School. “I think ideally a team is prepared for either an away game or a home game because a great team is able to get mentally prepared.”

The home team advantage is a phenomenon and people believe in it. Along with this, teams should be able to play through any odds and be prepared for either a home or away game.