The first Friday of February recently marked a big day for seniors at the North Polk High School in Alleman, Iowa.
The school was hosting a basketball ‘Senior Night’, an event to honor the senior players of the basketball team. The girls basketball team was set to play against Roland-Story High School, and everyone was excited about the big event.
WHO-TV, the local news channel, had even shown up to report on the game— but when it was time to play, officials discovered a little problem.
As per tradition, the school had been planning to play The Star-Spangled Banner before the game.
But when they loaded up the sound system, only silence emerged.
Robert Sinclair, the North Polk athletic director, was anxious. “At first, I was concerned why the technology didn’t work because I’m supposed to make sure it works,” he told the Des Moines Register.
But what followed was an impromptu performance that immediately went viral.
Hoping to save the situation, Bill Capaldo, the public address announcer, started singing the first few lines of the anthem.
Without any hesitation, a thundering crowd immediately joined in.
As mentioned, WHO-TV had sent a journalist to the Senior Night game, and upon seeing the powerful moment, reporter Sam Lozado immediately started to record.
Two weeks ago, the video was posted to the news station’s Facebook page, where it has since gone viral. The caption reads:
“Here’s something that made for a cool start to senior night at North Polk. Due to technical issues, the recording of the national anthem wasn’t able to play before North Pol and Roland-Story tipped off. But that didn’t faze anyone in the gym.”
The song’s themes of camaraderie and patriotism are important.
With so much controversy surrounding the anthem in the wake of the kneeling debacle, the song remains a powerful reminder of the values and morals this country was built on. The tradition of singing The Star-Spangled Banner before sporting events dates back to the 1918 World Series.
In a similar series of events that occurred during a Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs game, the crowd, players, and band joined in for an impromptu performance of the song— ultimately creating traditions and moments like this.
This video brings us back to the wholesomeness of the past— and since going viral the school district’s been flooded with praise. A few comments on the WHO-TV post read:
“Hope this makes the national news! Awesome!”
“Awesome. It would be great for every event to do it this way.”
“It was always meant to be a sing-along/community song! Way to go. I hope the trend continues!”
Watch the beautiful moment below!
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