Lakeside Tailgates: The Good, the Bad, and the Amazing

It's a beautiful Friday afternoon. The final period has ended, spirits are high, and students bunch into the Gym, ready for attendance, as they gleefully await their walk to the Upper School. The Lakeside tailgate is a thrilling, truly magical experience, packed with food, fun, and additional activities. That is, if you can take full advantage of it. As you walk on the perfectly manicured quad, the first sight that greets your eyes is the influx of people, young and old, gathering for a single sporting event. After you take in the energetic atmosphere of this unique event, the first order of business is usually food. Although they vary, Lakeside tailgates offer a wide variety of grub, including pizza, burgers, and hot dogs. Additionally, they all have vegetarian options, making this more accessible for non-meat eaters. After you pick up your meal, you can select several bags of chips and fruit. Near the food stands, places are tempting you to purchase beautiful lakeside merch, while others offer free candy along the way. There is no other place in the world where you can buy a seat cushion while holding a slice of pizza. However, after all this is done, you can often find yourself wondering what to do. So without further ado, here are several tips to fully enhance your game day experience. 

Check out the Athletics Center 

Behind the Quad is a stunning building called the Paul G. Allen Athletics Center. In here, you can see the massive lakeside basketball gym, as well as the numerous graduate engravings into the wall of Lakeside School below. There is also a whole hallway dedicated to the past team captains of Lakeside Sports (Try to find Corbin Carroll!). Fun fact, the water fountains in there have a better arch than the Middle School, which can be beneficial to grabbing water bottles! Additionally, there are many couches and benches for socializing or taking a deep, calm breath away from the relatively hectic environment. The Winter Basketball Spirit Night is also located in this building.

Watch the Game!

This may seem like an obvious one, but this is an opportunity to appreciate the level of play that these high schoolers have achieved, all while practicing your loudest cheering! Plus, in the past years, at halftime, the leaders of the school used to toss out free merchandise to the fans, although I haven’t seen it for a while. One day, if you play high school sports, you might find that extra attention very supportive!

(Maybe Next Year) Go to the new building

The new building is under rapid development, and if everything goes as planned, construction will be finished by January 2026! This means it will definitely be available for the Spring Tailgate. The details on whether it is allowed to go there during tailgate is still TBD, but the opening of this new building will allow more socializing, exploring, and appreciation for the new art and architecture installed in the building. 

Overall, Tailgates are exciting and thrilling, as long as you look in the right places. Just remember, how fun you want it to be depends on how fun you make it.