Lights to Shine on Westborough High Teams

Next week,  the stars will shine on Westborough High School teams at home for the first and only time this season.

Westborough High’s second Week of Lights starts next Monday night, Oct. 22, with JV and varsity girls soccer and ends that Friday night, Oct. 26, with varsity football.

Each night, Westborough High teams will play home games under portable lights “privately funded from the community” through donations, Athletic Director Johanna DiCarlo says.

Fans are asked to bring non-perishable food donations to the Westborough Food Pantry, she says. Cash donations will be accepted as well. The school will use the cash donations to support an organization in the community.

Admission is free to every game except varsity football, where tickets will be $5 for adults, $3 for students and senior citizens. All Westborough students will be admitted free.

The last Week of Lights was during the fall of 2010, DiCarlo says. The event is alternating years with the school’s Hall of Fame inductions due to the lights’ cost, she says. The school donated more than 1,000 pounds of food to the food pantry, and helped Westborough’s senior citizens fuel assistance program, after the 2010 Week of Lights, she says.

Night games were “something that the students and the parents had an interest in” when DiCarlo became athletic director six years ago, she says.

“They always talked about what a great experience they had at away games playing under the lights,” DiCarlo says.

“We really felt like it would be a great event for the entire community, especially our student body.”

The schedule is:

• Monday, Oct. 22: JV girls soccer vs. Algonquin, 5 p.m.;  varsity girls soccer vs. Fitchburg, 7 p.m.
• Tuesday, Oct. 23: JV boys soccer vs. Algonquin, 5 p.m.;  varsity boys soccer vs. Fitchburg, 7 p.m.
• Wednesday, Oct. 24: JV field hockey vs. Fitchburg, 5:15 p.m.;  varsity field hockey vs. Fitchburg, 7 p.m.
• Thursday, Oct. 25: Freshman and JV volleyball vs. Wachusett, 5:30 p.m.; varsity volleyball vs. Wachusett, 6:45 p.m.
• Friday, Oct. 26: Varsity football vs. Wachusett, 7 p.m.

DiCarlo says she scheduled the event for this week because all of the teams were home and  “we wanted it to be in a part of the season where it gets dark pretty early, so the lights can actually be used.”

“Two years ago when we did it, we had great crowds. The home side bleachers were pretty full the entire week,” DiCarlo says.