Stratford hasn’t had a homecoming dance in three years, but this year it is back. 

Not all students like the idea of the dance being on September 21 at Idle Hour Club. The date and the time conflict with the Georgia-Notre Dame football game, possibly the biggest home game in the history of the University of Georgia. 

A record crowd of 93,246 is expected as the capacity will be raised by 500 for the nationally televised game in prime time. More than 70,000 people are expected to travel to the game to be part of the atmosphere, even though they don’t have tickets.

Stratford’s homecoming is quite different from the past years,. The last five homecoming games all have been in October. The earliest was Oct. 6, 2017..

Since many Stratford families are UGA season ticket-holders,  students who would like to attend the dance but also the game have had a tough call to make. 

Carson Simmons, a junior, said she wishes the dance was a different day because she already had tickets to the game. Jansyn Stephens, a junior, said  she isn’t going to the game but wishes the game was a different day because a lot of her friends aren’t going to the dance as a result.

Mr. Stephen O’Hara, an advisor for the Student Leadership Board, said it was unfortunate the two events conflicted but the date could not be changed.

“We heard from the students last spring that there was interest in a homecoming dance being brought back.,” Mr. O’Hara said. ” The dance was scheduled Saturday following the homecoming game, and unfortunately that day conflicted with the UGA vs. Notre Dame game.’’

 Mr. O’Hara said they had meetings about changing the date but it just wasn’t feasible due to scheduling conflicts.