USU
hockey fans love their team
By Bryan Hinton
November 7, 2005 | He shoots. He scores. And the
crowd goes wild!
Those first
two sentences can happen anywhere, but the third is
happening more at Utah State University than other schools
in the region.
With an average attendance of more than 1,000 fans,
the USU hockey team is the most supported college club
team in the western United States.
"It's a new and exciting sport to the valley," USU
player Scottie Beard said. "We put pride and support
in our program and fans."
That pride and support is producing more fans than
Weber State's Division I team. USU is Division II, but
still gets just as much if not more fans each game than
many other D-I and D-II teams across the country.
"We have great public relations," USU player Robert
Hashimoto said. "[USU-WSU] used to be a sick rivalry
that the fans would get real excited about, but it kind
of died off when Weber went D-I. Our fans have kept
[support] up after that rivalry and theirs haven't as
much."
USU actually used to share the same ice arena as WSU
before the Eccles Ice Center was constructed in 2001,
according to the Aggie
web site.
Prior to WSU making the jump from D-II to D-I, it
was arguably a better team than USU, placing No. 2 in
the nation for the 2000-2001 season. USU has never reached
the national semifinals.
USU player Parker Richards said the support for Aggie
hockey has stayed high because of how visible the team
is in the community.
"It helps that they televise our games on the Valley
Channel," he said. "We also have a long season. We play
40 games. Basketball only plays 30."
The team has also created a "Super Fans Club," similar
to the Big Blue Club associated with USU varsity sports,
to give fans a chance to get even closer to the team.
Hashimoto said this club was only possible because
of how approachable the players are.
"The community loves that," he said. "We play for
the people of Logan. The football team is trying that
this season with its new coach."
Hashimoto also credited the increased hockey attendance
with the fact that other fall sports at USU don't fare
as well.
"We win a lot of games," he said. "You don't see other
fall teams that win games."
He said hockey is also just an exciting sport to watch
for students.
"College students love fights and hockey," he said.
"Football is physical, but it's part of the game. Hockey
is finesse. You don't have to hit, but you can so the
fans get a lot more excited when they see someone get
hit."
Beard said the campaign for the hearts of Aggie fans
is getting bigger each year.
NW
MS |
