The Hockey Paper has launched a fantastic campaign titled #WatchYour1s aimed at boosting attendance and reinvigorating match day atmospheres at 1st XI level.
With our Men’s 1st XI playing their first ever National League home match on Sunday 29th September (2.30pm) and our Ladies 1st XI, who are aiming for promotion into the Surrey Ladies Premier League, playing on Saturday 28th September (10am) this is a brilliantly timed campaign, which we feel as a Club we can wholeheartedly back. We fill the stands brilliantly when there is a big home match but we’d love to make this a more regular weekend occurrence – you only have to look at the Dutch Hoofdklasse hockey league to see how they fill their stands every weekend, for them it’s a big deal watching their top squads playing. We’d like to try and match this, and make watching the Men’s and Ladies 1st XI a big part of this coming season.
So what are we asking? We want you to make yourself and your team members aware of the weekend fixtures – Your Captain should have been sent a weekly summary, so ask them if you’re not sure whats on. See if you can perhaps come down earlier before your match starts, or hang around that bit longer after you’ve played to support the team playing after you. And please make sure you have a look at the 1st XI match times to see if you can come (bring the family?!) and support on the sidelines. If you’re a parent of one of our colts or indeed are a colt yourself, we want you to be part of this too. Why not print off the fixtures and stick them up somewhere so you know when to come down to the club on a Saturday or Sunday. Nothing beats being cheered on from the sidelines. We want to show The Hockey Paper and England Hockey that we are some of the loudest supporters around! If you use social media and are watching a 1st XI game, be sure to share any photos online using the hashtag #WatchYour1s so we can join in the movement to drive up attendance to our matches!
