Back in 1998, the Conway Springs football team won its first state championship. Around the time of playoffs, some of the players decided to do something new. They showed up with their hair dyed blonde. No one had told them to do it; they just did it. Little did they know, they had just started a longstanding tradition. 

Assistant coach Ryan King was a part of the group who started this tradition. 

“It started with my class,” King said. “Basically, me and a couple of guys were messing around and dyed our hair and then it kind of morphed into a tradition.” 

Despite this not being a requirement, many of the football boys, to this day, still continue to dye their hair when playoffs start. 

“[I dyed my hair] because it’s tradition,” sophomore Konner Bidwell said. “They’ve been doing it for years, so why stop now?”

Head coach Matt Biehler said there are many positives to this blonde ritual. 

“What I like about it is it’s brought the team close together,” Biehler said. “From seniors to freshmen. They all know who they are.”