“Call to Arms”

“We all want it,
On your show
Play it loud,
Don’t play it low”

“Blow your Speakers” – Manowar

 

A week or so back there was a theory on the Storm Supporters Facebook forum that one of the causes of a noticeable drop in attendances could be due to there not be enough advertising out and about relating to Storm. Whilst certain aspects of that argument may be true, all any potential advertisement in any form is going to do is get a prospective punter to take a chance on buying a ticket (and let’s face it, I can’t see many doing that as ticket’s are hardly cheap or certainly not cheap enough to take a gamble on) and get them through the front door.

So you get a newcomer to a game, be it through advertising or another avenue.  What then?

It’s no secret that the rink has its faults – there’s been many a comment, reference and even joke been made on social media about the standard of the rink toilets for example, but I think with enough work, we can make “Johnny Newbie” forget about those problems by really pushing the positives of Hockey fandom (and let’s face it, there must be a few, otherwise the team would be playing to an empty rink every week) but we collectively have to be prepared to work at it

As a long standing music fan (of a genre that is hardly considered mainstream), I’ve watched gigs in some proper spit and sawdust/feet-stick-to the-carpet places, places that make Aty look like the NYNEX/MEN/Manchester Arena (delete as applicable – for us that watched the Storm there, it will always retain the name of our first visit, no matter what it’s called these days), but it’s been the experiences that stick in the memory, not the state of said venue or even the venue toilets (although in fairness, even the grottiest of places have a certain amount of unique “charm” – some may argue a bit like the Storm Shelter)

This is where us fans come in. It’s only recently that I’ve realised that every single game is prospectively someone’s first, and as the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression. With the game on January 1st heading towards being the annual “New Years sell-out” at the time of writing, chances are that along with the regulars and die-hards, there’ll be a number of newbies, semi-regulars and maybe even one or two that have fallen by the wayside over the past few months

In the case of newbies, this is the perfect opportunity to show them what they’ve been missing out on all this time, give them something to remember and tell their friends and family about. I would argue that word of mouth is going to work better than any form of advertising every time, especially as to the uninitiated it looks like a complicated sport upon initial contact (and how many people are genuinely going to come to their first game not knowing anyone there or the first thing about it?  I’m sure the introduction of most of us was through someone that had either been before or had at least seen a game and had a modest understanding of the rules and what was going on).  I’ve seen and heard stories about how the drums have been memorable to some, whilst the atmosphere is something that crops up time and time again reading comments from people who have just experienced their first game.  This is something we can all help contribute to

In the case of the semi-regular/those that may have or are in the process of falling by the wayside, this is the perfect opportunity to remind them of why they fell in love with the game in the first place. Hockey (and general sport) fandom can be a bit like a relationship – you’re going to have ups and downs and there are times where you are going to wonder why you bother and if it’s worth carrying on (I’ve often said that if ‘er indoors caused me half as much heartache as Hockey has over the years, she’d have been on a one way trip to “Dumpsville” a looong time ago!).  No doubt many of us know people that have cut back on the number of games they attend for a multitude of reasons – in some cases, we can possibly convince people that you can see through their issues.  It’s certainly worth a try.  What have we got to lose?

So what can we do? We make noise and have fun.  Regardless of team performances and success (or lack there-of in the case of this season, although there’s still plenty of Hockey to play), what it all comes down to is that this is something we do (or should be doing) for entertainment and enjoyment.

Whilst a small percentage of us took the long trip to Glasgow the other night, I know a number of us tuned into the Steelers/Panthers game on Freesports (it was certainly good to have something “Hockey related” to do whilst repeatedly hitting refresh on Twitter and having mini-breakdowns every time the “Flashscores” notification went off (or is that just me?)). Apart from being a really entertaining game, the other thing that really stood out for me was the noise and atmosphere created by the Steelers fans.  As much as it sounded great on the television, it must have been something else actually being there in person

t risk of repeating myself (not that it usually stops me as long time readers will have no doubt spotted by now), this will in no doubt have fed the team (there was a great quote on social media by Steelers coach, Tom Barrasso – “This is why guys want to be professional hockey players… For this type of event”) and it could be argued led in turn to their eventual victory over Nottingham.  There’s no reason why this type of thing couldn’t and shouldn’t be repeated at Alty – if not at every game, then certainly the “big” games and especially when there’s a (prospective at least at the time of writing) sell out

So let’s get behind the team – sing, shout, clap your hands, stamp your feet – do whatever it takes.  Let’s make it a classic night to remember, win or lose for everyone in attendance. In turn, there’s every chance that you can make people forget the state of the rink. get people hooked (or re-hooked in some cases) and you never know, you might even enjoy yourself!