A rise in this rhetoric coinciding with a rise in fortunes of certain underdogs. Various women’s teams have experienced it.
Last year, the Rugby World Cup gave us the Black Ferns and this year football presented us the Matildas. Men’s sport isn’t immune either. You’d have to have your fingers in your ears lately, to not hear the rallying cry of “Up the Wahs!”.
Some have welcomed the newfound interest in their teams. They share in the gushing over heroes such as Ruby Tui, Sam Kerr and Shaun Johnson, understanding these stars are the gateway many new fans walk through. They are ready to introduce them to other legends and are excited to tell them tales of adversity and excellence. They thank them for their arrival which helps push the case for better merchandise, coverage and treatment of those in the game.
For me personally, one of the highlights of my sporting life was the six blissful weeks where my own special interest, women’s rugby, slowly became the nation’s fixation.
People were suddenly asking me questions rather than enduring my monologues. Wanting insight on laws, history and odds, I did my best to keep up. Their excitement only added to mine. We rode the high together, all the way to the top of Joanah Ngan-Woo’s world-beating fingertips.
Meanwhile, other fans are less excited about the influx of interest.
They stand like grizzled bouncers on the clubroom door. Wanting to check your membership and to quiz you on a game played in 1972 before they let you in. A hierarchy has been established, based more on endurance than enthusiasm. Equal parts superstition and ego mean they won’t clap too loud before the final whistle. Winning is good, dominance is better. They have memorised the right combination of statistics and jargon as to make their conversation impenetrable to outsiders.
It’s these bouncers, not the bandwagons, that are the worst part of our fan bases.
If there’s one mantra when it comes to building a movement it’s always be recruiting. Fan bases are always going to be in a state of flux. Folks move, commitments change, marquee players retire, games are lost and the cost of living rises. It is true that those bouncers will be there, weathering the storm.
But they will also be battening down the hatches making it harder for new fans to join them. We need to encourage these folks to stop seeing new fans as fair-weather friends and instead a validation of their long-held loyalty.
The reality is, all of us at one point, were bandwagoners. Swept up in the heady rush, we bought our first ticket or first jersey. We learned players’ names and loved their stories. We became students of the game to better follow along. We came together to lend our voices to the growing roar. If we did all this and were able to make friends with the other fans along the way, we would have stuck around for another season or two.