Crowds, cheers and student spirit
Concordia students play a role in empowering Stingers teams and swaying scores
With the Stingers fall teams beginning their seasons in late August, coaches and players say a strong audience in the bleachers has a vital role in bringing the home team to victory.
Football fever
The football team always manages to garner some of the biggest crowds of all Stingers teams. Head coach Brad Collinson says the energy of the crowd is something they feed off of as a team.
“It's always fun to pack the stadium and make sure that there's a lot of people here cheering on the guys,” he says. “When you come to a game, there's a lot of things going on, and we always put up a good show.”
He believes attending games gives students a chance to bond with the larger Concordia community. He notes the Homecoming game on Sep. 21 against McGill as a perfect example of sports games colliding with student life.
Last year, the Homecoming game against the Université Laval Rouge et Or hosted 1,892 fans. It represents a decline from 3,312 fans the previous year when they played the Homecoming game against their crosstown rivals, the McGill Redbirds.
“[Homecoming] is always a big event and there's going to be things happening all day because of the 50th anniversary of Concordia,” he says. “There are ample opportunities to come here and support the guys. Coming to a game, being out in the sun, supporting fellow students; it's always a good time.”
According to Concordia Athletics, the football team averaged 1,400 attendees per game during the 2023-2024 academic year. They also sold out a game and nearly sold out another.
Despite a loss in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec semifinals last year, the Stingers still garnered important momentum at the latter end of their season.
Their playoff loss was heartbreaking, says fifth-year star quarterback Olivier Roy. Playing at Université Laval’s stadium, they almost managed to overcome the second-seeded team but were defeated in overtime.
The team also won its last three regular season games, including a major upset against the Université de Montréal Carabins, to finish the season with a strong 5-3 record.
Roy says the team will use the playoffs as a launching pad into the new season.
“We're not trying to think too much about the past and previous years, but most of the guys were there last year, and they experienced the whole thing,” Roy says. “So, we're trying to learn from the negative and build on the positive from last year.”
Roy and Collinson both say they are excited about the enormous class of veteran players returning.
“We feel that we have a good team on our hands,” Roy says. “We just want to be able to compete at the same level that we finished last year.”
The revenge story of the veteran team will be one to follow this season for football fans. It even convinced Roy, who was hesitant about playing a fifth year, to return.
“I didn't like the way our season ended last year, so that was obviously a big factor,” he says. “But, just the fact that we have a team that is mature and ready to win right now, it guided me a lot towards coming back this year.”
Soccer spirit
While football gets the boost from the crowd, the soccer teams say they are looking to attract more fans to the field this season. Head coach Greg Sutton says crowds empower teams and add energy on the field.
“When things are going well for teams, then the crowd gets on behind them and pushes them onto even further things,” he says. “Vice versa, when things are challenging for the team, there's that encouragement sometimes to push you to get through some tough times.”
Sutton says one of their challenges has been attracting fans to the field, but that their team appreciates any level of support.
“I don't think that the student body really understands how important they can play a role in our varsity teams,” he says. “Their support would be an opportunity for us to take our gains to another level. In our teams, we're very mindful of that support.”
In Sutton’s opinion, soccer brings a more intimate fan experience, especially at the university, where peers support peers.
“So, for students out there, what's in it for them?” he asks. “It's helping create an opportunity for our university and being a part of the success of our university soccer teams.”
Sutton says both teams are in good hands leadership-wise and that they are training together quite well. Women’s soccer’s Dayne Lebans and Lauren Curran will head the women’s team once again this year, while men’s soccer’s Razvan Colici will take the helm after John Cevik graduated last year.
“I think this year seems a little bit different. We seem a little bit more connected on both teams and have a drive that's a little bit more evident than in years past,” Sutton says. “We're in a good position where I think now we can really do something special with both teams.”
The Swarm
One Concordia student club, Concordia Swarm, actively tries to get students interested in attending varsity games to create a more involved student body.
Swarm president Kinu’Kai McCalla says they are starting their operations back up after a dormant few seasons.
“The whole purpose of Swarm was about bringing a great atmosphere to games, bringing more of the student body, get them more encouraged to not only go to games, but be a fan of the game,” McCalla says,”[to] embody the Concordia student culture and bring it to life at these games.”
Swarm is currently building its new team and encouraging students to get involved with the club. However, recruitment efforts have been difficult so far. She says fewer students are involved in clubs than in previous years.
“The club's been around for over a decade, actually, and I saw from their old photos how involved all the students were,” she says. “I just want to bring it back to what it looked like 10 years ago, where every single student was either talking about the games or talking about a sport in the school and just having fun.”
McCalla herself had been compelled to join the club when she attended one of the football team’s highly-anticipated Homecoming games.
“I really enjoyed the atmosphere and I wanted to somehow get involved with the school, since I wasn't as involved as I wanted to be, and sports just interested me,” says McCalla, who encourages any student who would want to be a part of Swarm to get in contact with them.
“It’s always fun to pack the stadium and make sure that there’s a lot of people here cheering on the guys.” — Stingers head football coach Brad Collinson
How to support the Stingers
The Stingers football team's home opener against the Université de Laval Rouge et Or attracted a good crowd of 1,232 fans on Aug. 24. However, Rouge et Or supporters came en masse to support the away team, occupying numerous bleachers and making themselves heard.
Despite the Stingers fan base diligently cheering on the home side, the Stingers fell 36-11 against the Rouge et Or.
For anyone looking to take part in the fun, the Stingers’ game schedule and ticketing platform can be found on their website. Discounts are offered to students.
This article originally appeared in Volume 45, Issue 1, published September 3, 2024.
