Bird Bowls Begin With Friday's Field Hockey Contest

One might think that with the geographic proximity of Hayfield and Edison, the schools would have a natural rivalry. But until Hayfield arrived in the National District in 2009, it wasn’t necessarily true.

Now that the Eagles and Hawks play together in both regular-season and district competition, the schools have teamed up with a local business to form the annual “Bird Bowls” in field hockey, football and boys’ and girls’ basketball.

The first event in the bowl series will be Sept. 16 at 6:15 p.m., when Edison hosts Hayfield in a field hockey game rescheduled from Sept. 8. The series is sponsored by Red, Hot, and Blue in the Lansdowne Center, and a trophy is on the line for the winner of each game. Currently Hayfield holds the trophies for both football and field hockey.

The field hockey contest comes exactly one month before the beginning of the district tournament, and could prove to be a playoff game preview. In football, the Nov. 4 game could have playoff implications for the Hawks, who were the AAA Division 5 runner-up in 2010, and what looks to be an improved Edison squad.

In field hockey, the two schools were part of a preseason tournament earlier this year, and while they didn’t match-up, the teams were eyeing each other in anticipation of their Bird Bowl contest.

“That’s one of the biggest games the girls have been talking about,” said first-year Hayfield varsity coach Lauren Cirino. "We were definitely scouting them. We wanted to gauge on how they play. It’s a big deal for our girls and our school.”

While regular-season field hockey games don’t often result in packed stands, this game should, said Hayfield director of student activities E.W. Noland.

“It’s a little special to beat Edison,” he said. “It’s great for the community. In field hockey, the parents wear their orange ‘Battle of the Birds' shirts.”

Cirino, who also teaches at Hayfield, said all of her players plan to encourage parents and a few friends to come to the game.

“They’re going to try to pack the stands with Hayfield fans,” she said. “I’m going to encourage all of my students to see it.”

Noland has a divided allegiance in field hockey, since his nieces attend Edison and one, Amanda, is on the field hockey team. It results in an annual photo with family members split between Edison red and Hayfield orange.

Noland’s counterpart at Edison, Berk Stoy, said the games between the Eagles and Hawks are a good opportunity for ninth graders and other students new to the school to be introduced to the rivalry.

“Whenever you do trophies or plaques it helps the event," he said. "You can tell with the attendance. It would be a safe bet that the basketball attendance was never greater than during the doubleheader with Hayfield and the same holds true for field hockey.”

The schools will also meet in basketball over the winter for a home-and-away series. Unlike other schools in the area that lead into a boys’ varsity game with a boys’ J.V. game, the Hayfield vs. Edison boys’ varsity game is preceded by the girls’ varsity game, which often results in a high-energy, standing-room crowd.

“It just generates a lot of school spirit on both ends,” said Edison girls’ basketball coach Diane Lewis. “We enjoy having it because the kids get excited.”

Another element is Red, Hot and Blue’s involvement. Not only is the restaurant the key sponsor for the event, but it donates pre-or-post-game meals to the players and coaches. Managing partner Gray Hurd says his kitchen prepares about 15 pounds of meat, either pulled pork or pulled chicken per team for the football games. That, along with about two gallons of macaroni and cheese, and a gallon apiece of coleslaw, beans and potato salad, makes quite a spread.

“We can’t give food to everyone who asks for free food, but this is a neat relationship we have with these schools,” said Hurd, who noted Tony Williams, an assistant football coach at Hayfield who works at Red, Hot and Blue as the catalyst for the restaurant’s involvement in the series.

Some say that classic sports rivalries can be so intense that fans would rather see their team lose every other game in the season as long as they beat the rival. Cirino and Noland said that’s not the case with the Hayfield-Edison games.

“Our goals this year are not to just win a few games, but to go ahead and take the district,” Cirino said. “We’re not just going to stop at beating Edison. We want to do it and we want to bring home that trophy for our team, but we want to think about future games.”

To recap the 2010-11 series, Hayfield won in football and field hockey, while Edison swept the boys’ and girls’ basketball games.