Maximizing Crowd Impact on the Field

[NDNmom91]

Bringing this thread back up for those of y’all watching the Florida State-LSU game tonight. Florida State makes incredibly effective use of the War Chant and its various variants. It keeps the crowd on their feet the entire game. In my opinion, Florida State’s band, cheerleaders and mascot are the best in college football at maximizing the crowd factor in their games. The Doak is a very difficult place to play.

PN-G did a good job of playing War Chant at critical junctures last season, especially during the playoffs. The band’s aggression had an impact on the field. Would love to see more of that.

I was just saying the same thing! Attending a FSU game at The Doak is on my bucket list! I can say our band and crowd was on a FSU War Chant level during the playoffs…hoping we show out like that when FBM rolls into the Rez for the FIRST time in a couple weeks!

 

[bandkid]

I was just saying the same thing! Attending a FSU game at The Doak is on my bucket list! I can say our band and crowd was on a FSU War Chant level during the playoffs…hoping we show out like that when FBM rolls into the Rez for the FIRST time in a couple weeks!

I spent a summer in Tallahassee when I was in undergrad. Enjoyed every moment. The Seminoles are my second favorite college team.

 

[Usedtocould]

They’re at Orlando aren’t they ?

 

[bandkid]

They’re at Orlando aren’t they ?

For this game, yes, but the way the crowd’s chanting right now, it might as well be Doak Campbell.

 

[IndianFan]

It’s a blessing to have good support and participation. It’s still mind boggling how some of the visiting schools seem to have so little fan support or students involved in activities like band. I’m sure there are reasons for it which is unfortunate for all the kids.

 

[Usedtocould]

parent selfishness mostly

 

[Usedtocould]

Especially when it’s less than :30
Every distant relative should be there every game

 

[1970]

It's very noticeable after halftime is over, how many people leave. But understandable too, especially older folks that can't or don't want to stay 'til 10pm or so, especially if the game is a runaway. With probably the band, Indianettes and others total numbers pushing 200+, that's potentially a lot of folks there to see their child/grandchild/relative perform. Presume an average of 3 family members per kid, that's over 600 people there just to watch the halftime. It's probably closer to 1000.

Anyway, I'm just rambling. It always tickles me to see how many older folks attend the PNG home games, even in wheelchairs, walkers, canes or other assistance. I heard last Friday that the elevator can be used to reach higher levels, to reduce the number of steps that have to be climbed. If true, that's a good deal right there.

 

[NDNmom91]

I’m hoping Indian Nation wakes up and brings the NOISE to give FBM a proper “welcome” for their first visit to The RESERVATION tomorrow night cause we’re in for a big challenge especially with Shae out but crowd noise can make a HUGE impact so…LET’S BRING IT!!

 

[bandkid]

Just bringing this back to say that I’m really proud of how active and involved the fans have been when the Indians have been on defense so far this year. The participation really seems to have been stepped up from prior seasons.

 

[NDNmom91]

Resurrecting this topic because of something I noticed at MCM!! I’ve BEEN saying we should put “STAND UP” “GET LOUD” and other prompts on our jumbo tron like Nederland did for defensive 3rd downs and other times to get the fans involved because it worked on our crowd almost every time, only issue was we were on OFFENSE so that’s really not the time to make a lot of noise but definitely better than nothing…lol!

 

[indians87]

Just bringing this back to say that I’m really proud of how active and involved the fans have been when the Indians have been on defense so far this year. The participation really seems to have been stepped up from prior seasons.

That’s because we actually have a coach that knows defense wins games and knows how to coach it. In the past it was all about the offense and trying to break scoring records. The past staff refused to play kids both ways except toward the end of tight games. I like that when we are up by 4 or more TD’s they put in the subs and coach them just like the starters.

 

[bandkid]

The more the spirit groups do to engage the fans from the sidelines and the more the players win on the field, the more fun the fan experience will be and the more engaged the fans will get. It’s the same mix college teams use to sell tickets and pack stadiums.

Coach Joseph and company will handle the second prong of that mission. This thread is intended to figure out how to do the first part.

Here’s another idea: a standard intro video for every game in Indian Stadium. At Alabama, they have one that’s 5-10 minutes long that recaps all the national championships. It pulls footage of all the greatest moments in Alabama football history from the 1920s, ‘30s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘90s, 2000s and ‘10s. The memorable plays, shots of the coaches, video of post-game awards ceremonies, with filler shots of the bands, drill teams, cheerleading squads, fans, and student sections mixed in. No matter how many times they show it (it’s barely changed since I was in school, except to add more recent footage), it fires up the crowd every time. It does a really good job of ‘jiggering the memory box,’ so to speak.

Our press team consistently pumps out the highest quality stuff I’ve ever seen at the high school level. I’m sure they could make a summer project out of digging up old footage and pictures of PN-G teams from historic seasons from the 1940s to present. Get plenty of shots of the great players, great coaches and great moments longtime PN-G fans still talk about: Bum and Wade Phillips, Jeff Bergeron, Doug and Richy Ethridge, Ron McGill, Dustin Long’s game-winning drive against Schertz Clemens, some of Chris Gohlke’s legendary tackles against LaMarque, Dre Dunbar’s miracle play to tie up the Central game, Roschon Johnson scrambling up and down the field for big gains, Chance Prosperie’s clutch catch against Montgomery earlier this year. Mix in shots of our huge crowds in the Astrodome and the band doing the Marching I. Set it all to the Indian Nation song.

Bringing this back just to say that I think the social media chatter on Facebook this year proved the fans cherish PN-G's great history, and it's a great motivation tool.

Hint, hint, guys.

 

[NDNmom91]

Bringing this back just to say that I think the social media chatter on Facebook this year proved the fans cherish PN-G's great history, and it's a great motivation tool.

Hint, hint, guys.

Agreed! Our playoff crowd was ! Hope we can continue that during home games next season

 

[bandkid]

@PNGPrimetime Here's a great opportunity to shine.

 

[bandkid]

bump

 

[19PNGndn68]

I'll start with one potential answer to my own question.

I think it would be wise to break the cheerleading squad up to cover more of the stadium at once. Alabama does this in Bryant-Denny Stadium. Three cheerleading squads are placed in three of the four corners of the stadium at field level, two on the west side and one in the southeast corner directly in front of the student section. The northeast corner is left for the cheerleading squad for the visiting team; the northeast corner of the stadium is where most of the tickets for visiting fans are sold.

The PN-G cheerleaders have always moved along the sideline to cheer where the ball is spotted before each play. When we still had only ten varsity cheerleaders, I think that was appropriate. Now that we have twenty or so, I think it's a better idea to break them up into two or three squads and position them either at both 30 yard lines, or at the 50 yard line and both 25 yard lines, to better engage the full breadth of the crowd on the PN-G side of Indian Stadium. With respect to the "de-fense" chant, specifically, I think the cheerleaders should coordinate with the band and Indianettes to better engage the full crowd in the chant. Alabama's band, drill team and cheerleaders also do this - in fact, there's a whole "defense" cadence Alabama's Million Dollar Band has rigged up specifically for big second, third and fourth downs, and they do it so often that the crowd knows it by heart.

This also means adding more chants. Whenever opposing teams have to kick the ball at Alabama, whether for a PAT or a field goal, the cheerleaders lead the fans in chanting, "block that kick." I tried that a few times at some of the playoff games, and finally got other fans to join in during the championship. I think that would rattle opposing kickers, which could come in handy in close games.

For PNG home games using the large video screen to highlight the Cheerleading yells should be taken advantage. I am not in favor of “weaponising” of the PA system to drown out the opposing team signal calls “AKA Huntsville PA”.