Re: UNH Wildcats 2010 off-season thread
I've been lurking a bit and thought I'd chime in. For those of you who don't know me, I'm the band director.
If we're looking to make a change, I'd volunteer the band to head up the cheering at the games. That would get the voices up above and behind the students, so more people would be able to hear it, plus it would truly be student-led. I've wanted them to be more active leading cheers, but I think there's been a concern about stepping on toes and "tradition." If the torch were officially passed, then that would solve the problem.
If you guys were on board with this, I would probably have designated cheer captains (for lack of a better term) within the band who know what cheers are done when and why, and who are already big hockey fans. Actually, some of the cheers even started with the marching band "back in the day." Heck, I was told a friend of mine who graduated in the 80s started the "Gimme a U!" cheer.
I think having "plants" in the crowd would help as well, especially early in the season. I was even thinking of producing a CD or website of some of the cheers and fight songs to distribute to new students so they can learn them in advance. That may be a little too dorky, but I'm brainstorming here.
I got so frustrated last weekend seeing Cornell's and RIT's fans, because I don't know what we can do to get that level of participation. As someone else mentioned, they weren't just their students! Yes, getting more people to the road games would help, but even at home we can't get everyone to chant "U-N-H!" together, let alone clap in different directions or perform cheers with more than 3 syllables.
I think there is also a coolness factor in the student section that they need to get over. The hosers, etc. do all sorts of things that would look great if everyone did them together, but the students seem to think either a) "that's THEIR thing, I'm not allowed to join in," or b) "People might look at me funny if I join in." That's where I think having the plants will help. If they start to see other people doing it, they may realize it's okay to do it too. Peer pressure! At least I hope so. Or maybe our students only want to participate when the word "suck" or worse is used. If that's the case, then I give up.
Anyway, I want to make the band part of the solution. A lot of the game traditions exist without the band because we weren't coming to all the games in the past, or because we were across the ice. But that all changed four years ago. We're here to stay, so put us to work!
I've been lurking a bit and thought I'd chime in. For those of you who don't know me, I'm the band director.
If we're looking to make a change, I'd volunteer the band to head up the cheering at the games. That would get the voices up above and behind the students, so more people would be able to hear it, plus it would truly be student-led. I've wanted them to be more active leading cheers, but I think there's been a concern about stepping on toes and "tradition." If the torch were officially passed, then that would solve the problem.
If you guys were on board with this, I would probably have designated cheer captains (for lack of a better term) within the band who know what cheers are done when and why, and who are already big hockey fans. Actually, some of the cheers even started with the marching band "back in the day." Heck, I was told a friend of mine who graduated in the 80s started the "Gimme a U!" cheer.
I think having "plants" in the crowd would help as well, especially early in the season. I was even thinking of producing a CD or website of some of the cheers and fight songs to distribute to new students so they can learn them in advance. That may be a little too dorky, but I'm brainstorming here.
I got so frustrated last weekend seeing Cornell's and RIT's fans, because I don't know what we can do to get that level of participation. As someone else mentioned, they weren't just their students! Yes, getting more people to the road games would help, but even at home we can't get everyone to chant "U-N-H!" together, let alone clap in different directions or perform cheers with more than 3 syllables.
I think there is also a coolness factor in the student section that they need to get over. The hosers, etc. do all sorts of things that would look great if everyone did them together, but the students seem to think either a) "that's THEIR thing, I'm not allowed to join in," or b) "People might look at me funny if I join in." That's where I think having the plants will help. If they start to see other people doing it, they may realize it's okay to do it too. Peer pressure! At least I hope so. Or maybe our students only want to participate when the word "suck" or worse is used. If that's the case, then I give up.
Anyway, I want to make the band part of the solution. A lot of the game traditions exist without the band because we weren't coming to all the games in the past, or because we were across the ice. But that all changed four years ago. We're here to stay, so put us to work!
)
