5 Ways to Enhance your Game day Experience
1. Get there as doors open
Whether you are going to a NHL game or a semi-pro game like the Colorado Eagles there are so many things you can do to get more involved in the game that makes your experience so much more enjoyable for everyone.
A classic all time activity before a game is the tailgate. There is nothing like having fun with friends and family before the game playing yard games grilling food right before the game. Talking to your friends or heckling the team add to the experience. If you are supporting a local high school team like the Fort Collins Lambkins, who are in the top 5 for hockey in the state, or even at a Avalanche game. You can interact with players early on, get the good seats and cheer on your team.
There has been numerous times that I have seen hockey players give pucks, sticks, and pose for pictures with the fans who have gotten there early. With high school you can literally talk to the players before they go on the ice. All this interaction and getting to the front is SO much fun.
You’ll never know what could happen when you get there you can make new friends with the people next to you and are able to see all of your favorite players warm up. This is the time that there aren’t that many people there so you can run up to the front and try and get a picture with your favorite player or maybe even get lucky and get a signature or a souvenir to take home with you from the players themselves.
2. Dress Up
Flickr: Nicu Buculei / Creative Commons
Nothing feels better than when you are a piece of the massive puzzle in the crowd and you fit in just right. Supporting your team by wearing their colors and cheering them on alongside everyone to the left and the right of you. Dressing up in team colors isn’t the only way to have fun either, some teams put on themed nights like 90's night! Just adding the right colors or the jersey of your favorite player creates a feeling that you are apart of the whole team.
Unifying with a team, especially on fun and interesting nights, like the Colorado Eagles do with fight cancer night, not only are you apart of a team but it becomes something bigger at that point. Showing that you are apart of the fight and cause with donations or just support with the colors or ribbons surpasses sports against something bigger adding to your experience as a whole.
3. Concessions
“Kampong Chickens” by chooyutshing is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
There is nothing wrong with getting a good brat or a greasy slice of pizza and a soda or alcoholic beverage of your choice getting ready for the game. My personal favorite is getting a massive plate of nachos to pass around and munch on throughout the whole game.
Eating stadium concessions at a sporting event is a staple.In any sport with peanuts at baseball games, nachos or a hot dog at a football game, maybe a beer or two. Each place has the food that they are known for and it’s always fun to indulge in food when you are at the stadium. It all adds to that stadium feel that you are there at the game.
4. Join in with the Crowd
Flickr: Frid33 — Canada Soccer
Coming from a hockey background banging on the glass when the team is on your corner, or yelling at the refs is some of the best things. When your team scores a goal and you celebrate and high-five with the people you have never met that are all around is a rush of emotion and excitement that makes you feel apart of the game.
You can’t beat that energetic adrenaline fueled feeling. Bringing fun props themed with the team or making signs to interact with the players is all part of the fun. With the booming echo as a collective you can create as a collective is astonishing and feels so good with all the laughs, cheers, heckling of the players.
5. Have Fun!
Flickr: Dennis Yang / Creative Commons
Ultimately the best way to go into a sporting event is that you are there to have fun, win or lose. The whole idea that it is a game and everyone is there for the entertainment and the rush of competitiveness that it provides, there is no need to feel bad because someone was a bad sport about something because at the end of the day everyone was having fun with the game.
