On Friday, September 26, the Philadelphia Eagles came to Strath Haven for their annual high school showdown. 

Families in the school district received an email four days prior to the event informing them that there would be “Eagles legends,” performances by the Eagles drumline, and cheerleaders.

The event drew around 3,000 attendees, twice as many as a regular football game, thanks to the Eagles event and the WSSD’s Band Night.

Athletic director Ms. Lynelle Mosley received an email from the Eagles three weeks prior to the event informing her that Haven had been chosen as a candidate to host the annual showdown.

“I thought that it was something they did every week. I didn’t think it was such a big of an ordeal that it was going to be, which was kind of a good surprise,” Mosley said. “We had just gotten the luck of the draw.” 

Once Mosley found out that the Eagles were coming, the planning started. Communications and Community Relations Liaison Ms. Rachel Riley worked with multiple district administrators, such as the superintendent and the safety and security team, to make sure it ran smoothly.

“We were all in coordination, and had several different Zoom meetings to talk about logistics, because it wasn’t just the Eagles night that was there,” Riley said. “It was also the middle school band night, too.”

With the middle school band night also being that same night, the school faced challenges with coordination. More parking had to be offered while also having shuttle buses, and more security had to be put in place to effectively anticipate the high expected attendance. 

“There were a lot of different working parts to it. So for me, I know communication was definitely the challenging part, just to make sure that I had all the information correct that I can give out to the public to put on our social media [and emails],” Riley said.

The Eagles drumline connected with band director Nicholas Pignataro to set up clinics with the Haven drumline. Marple Newtown’s drumline was also invited to the clinic. 

“They got to answer questions from our students, and they got to teach them a new song, a new cadence, and then we encouraged them to hang out with us in the stands,” Pignataro said. “They did that and played with us at halftime. So they played their fight song with us, and [we] played our fight song with [the Eagles] too. The Eagles drumline not only cheered us on, but they also taught our kids in the clinic, but also out of the stands. They were dancing to the music. They were interacting with the students, asking questions, helping them to learn, giving them some tips and pointers.”

The Eagles cheerleaders also connected with Haven and Marple Newtown’s cheerleaders, teaching them new routines and dances. 

“Our cheerleaders also got to teach the Eagles cheerleaders some of their moves and their dances. Because then during the actual game, the Eagles cheerleaders actually did some of the cheers with our students, which was really cool,” Riley said.

Pignataro got to see the Eagles’ interactions firsthand in the stands.

“I believe that the students felt that the people representing the Eagles that night were genuinely interested in them and their community. So the Eagles seemed really so — as an organization — seemed really selfless that night. I think our kids got that,” Pignataro said.

The community in the district came together that night to cheer on the band and football team. 

“To have any Philadelphia Eagles there and to have them want to showcase our student athletes, I think it was really exciting,” Mosley said. “I thought it would be a great thing for the community, and just another way to showcase our athletics and our athletes, and to just give something back that the community can have and can benefit from. I thought it was a really cool thing that we got to do.”