Po-Hi gears up for another year of athletics

The first day of school is right around the corner, meaning sports teams are going to be kicking off their seasons too. These teams hope to add to the 54 state championships Ponca City has collected since 1907. The only other school in Ponca’s division with more is Bartlesville with 59. Bob Banta, Ponca City High School sports enthusiast said Po-Hi has more championships than its biggest rivals though.

"I’ll give you exactly our biggest rivals, which are Enid and Stillwater, " Banta said. "Enid has 23, Stillwater has 19."

Banta got these numbers from the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association website. These numbers include all men and women sports.

Po-Hi’s first state championship was boys golf in 1931. The sport with the most championships is men’s volleyball, which doesn’t even exist anymore. They won 11 championships during the 14 year period Po-Hi had the sport. Banta said this research was to emphasize the hard work these athletes put in.

"I am an old man, I know back when I was in school athletics was a big deal," Banta said. "I mean everybody went to the games, everybody supported the teams. I am sure a lot of it is because there is much more to do now than there was back then. But if you stop and think about it, you can either watch the Kardashians on TV and reality TV or you can spend $5 and go support our local kids that are out there busting their tails every Friday night or Tuesday night or Thursday night."

There are games as early as today. Softball is scrimmaging Guthrie at home in just a few hours at 10. Then next Friday the volleyball team has a scrimmage and the first football game is Sept. 9.

PoncaCityNow.com’s calendar of events has all the latest Po-Hi sports games.