Hi everyone,
I may not have posted in a while, but I am here from time to time keeping abreast of all the news and goings on amongst our internet family.
What struck me about the last match was in the lead up, we got a call from the coach and the players themselves about supporting the team. It was mentioned that the fans just look at the game like a TV and do not involve themselves or motivate the team so I would like the TTFF or any other group to help improve the atmosphere at the game.
I have been around since the strike squad and while the 2006 Warriors made it, the love and vibe that the strike squad had...has never been replicated.
This campaign is nearing completion and yet people don't know whats going on, how many points the team needed, what stage of qualifying we are in and who the players are on the field.
Also in a do or die game with a full stadium...the vibes last friday was DEAD.
It is a combination of factors, but we have to accept that the average TT football attendee has changed.
The "die hards" have tabanca from a previous campaign or have felt aggrieved by an action of Warner, the TTFF, or the team so they are no longer there and watch TV home.
The country is in a recession and with certain games not having Children priced tickets, families are now being excluded.
Then we have those who are football experts and who will watch Champions League, La Liga and BPL...and say me...I not paying no money to watch them fellas.
So what you are left with are casual fans and the waggonists...Our greatest resource and who if guided correctly can create the atmosphere the team desires.
The numbers of women attending games now are greater than previous campaigns and they are coming for the lime or for the selfie to post on instagram. It kinda sad that there are plenty men in this selfie category too and instead of watching the game is phone spinning around and documenting their actions. But anyways to build the vibes in the stadium, this is what can be improved.
1) Sing the anthem. No standing up, no murmuring...sing whatever note that you can produce.
2) Allow more instruments and drums into the stadium. (FIFA rules may have prevented this) but years ago there were multiple riddim sections around the stadium, including tassa. When one took a rest another picked up and so it went. You could give cheaper tickets to individuals of these bands or let corporate TT sponsor them, so you have at least 6-8 of these placed strategically around the stadium.
Also you have to train them to observe and compliment the action on the field. Instead of having a group just beating for beating sake they should know when to up the tempo, a certain drum pattern for a corner, a uptempo riddim when we score, another when we concede etc. Never know coach hart could also use the drums as a signal for certain plays on the field or to get messages to the team. Wishful thinking? strategy?...Organized fan groups in Europe do it.
3) To go with the drums we need chants and you need chain up men! We are Trinis, we follow instructions every carnival and so it could also happen at the game. But you need a leader...so invest in a few youths with personality or some celebrities and have the chants. If you have to give them a loudspeaker (again banned by Fifa in some places) do so. Make up some catchy slogans or lines, put it in the media, put it on facebook and when its game time, get the "jester" to perform and infect the crowd. The chant can then become famous.
4) To go with the chant you need a noise maker...corporate TT usually bmobile or digicel used to give out thundersticks, but before thundersticks we had the greatest noisemaker ever in the form of a rattle.
Cast your minds back to the 2000 campaign and Coca Cola gave everybody in the stadium a empty coke bottle with some one cent pieces in it. The label was branded with the game date and everybody shook those makeshift rattles and made plenty noise. Again the rattle can work we just have to make the noise in unison...Chain up man again to start to the ting.
5) Synchronized movement in the stands. ( Yeah we do the wave..its nice) but there are so many other things we can do. In the era of the strike squad, the area under the clock was reserved for the Army only, as they came out to support their team mates and these Army personnel were some of our first cheerleaders. The were the ones who did the wave, in a small area, but they also did left to right arm movements, synchronized salutes, they stood up and down in a pattern and waved cloth, sticks and other things to create the visual effect for their comrades on the field.
The ideas above are not new but they have been forgotten by many and all it takes is one corporate entity or the ttff to start the initiative. One group of 50-60 youths all dressed alike with noisemakers and chants could start the ting. These things are done by the biggest clubs in the world, it is just they have been repeated over and over the years so that the culture is formed. The waggonists are impressionable, it is time we turn them into a supporting fan.
People have forgotten the slow hand clap for a corner or freekick...(we doing that Iceland Euro Clap long time, that not new), they have forgotten the "T&T we want a goal" and the synchronised clapping that came with it . They have forgotten the jeers when a opposing keeper runs up to kick a goal kick. The chants from Intercol can be brought back again and used for the national team...maybe my age is showing, but once we start back those little things maybe it can motivate the fellas on the field and coach Hart and Kenwyne wouldnt have to beg for support.
See you in the nex hex game