On Saturday, I had the immense pleasure of dragging my wife to something that she didn’t really seem all that interested in. Ice hockey. Yep that’s right, ice hockey.
Off we went to the only skating rink in Canberra to watch the Knights – who, as it turns out are the oldest running elite level Ice Hockey team in the country at 29 years – take on the Sydney Ice Dogs.
We sat on barely comfortable wooden benches, and I would say that we froze our backsides off, but it is Canberra in the winter, so it was roughly the ambient outdoor temperature inside!
The action was fasted paced and exciting, as Ice Hockey tends to be. The Ice Dogs raced out to a 3-0 lead, with the Knights clawing one back just before the end of the period. The Knights were much better in the second, dominating much of the play, but the Ice Dogs (sitting third in the table) made the most of their chances, finishing the period 5-3 ahead.
The final period was a tense affair, the Knights pulling one back to ensure a dramatic finish, the Ice Dogs pushed on however, and soon after hitting the crossbar, were able to restore their two-goal lead, winning 6-4.
However, this was only part of the story. The crowd, albeit small, was enthusiastic and parochial. You’re close (or as close as you can safely be anyway) to the action, you genuinely feel like you’re a part of the game, its hard not to when you get sprayed with ice each time a player stops in front of you!
Whilst I’m not completely sure of the crowd number, it would be hard to imagine it being much more than one thousand. There was a very strong – and vocal – number of travelling supporters (the Ice Dogs are based in Liverpool, so it is just a short trip down the Hume for them), but one of the things that really impressed me were the number of AIHL jerseys.
As a long time follower of the A-League, one of the things that has always been a sore point were the number of European club jerseys at the games, but there were plenty of both Knights and Ice Dogs jerseys. Of course there were NHL jerseys, and my Belfast Giants jersey got plenty of stares…
All of this mirrors an experience I had earlier in the year when I went along to watch the Canberra Cavalry baseball team.
The stands were small, but packed, the action was exciting, people genuinely wanted to be there to support the team. Beer was reasonably priced (and in bottles and cans, definitely not watered down), and the food was actually edible, let alone hot and it too was reasonably priced.
I guess it is a self fulfilling prophecy, the two sports mentioned – ice hockey and baseball – aren’t exactly mainstream sports in Australia. The have proud histories, stretching back many decades, played by a very narrow spectrum of the population (read: foreigners).
The reality is that they aren’t going to fill coliseum style stadia, so they might as well tailor their experience to the small handful that actually turns up.
The great regression of basketball has seen this happen also. The lofty heights of a packed out tennis centre to see the Tigers play the Magic are – like the Magic themselves – long gone. Basketball has redefined itself, the teams play in smaller, more intimate and perhaps most importantly, more cost effective venues.
However, this isn’t just a solution for the niche sports of the land.
I grew up in Melbourne, and I was one of the six people who don’t particularly like AFL. However, growing up, it is difficult to avoid the social obligation to get kneed in the back by a bigger kid, and attend a few games with your friends. I wasn’t particularly good at the game, unlike my younger brother, and it wasn’t really something we watched too much at home.
Fast forward fifteen years, and a few weeks after I moved to Canberra, Sydney played Essendon at Manuka Oval. My housemate was going, and I didn’t really know too many other people in town over the weekend, it was a beautiful, clear skied day with a bit of cold bite to the air, as is typical of Canberra in August. I couldn’t think of a good excuse or anything better to do on my own on such a beautiful day. So I went.
As we sat on the grass watching a game I barely understand unfolding mere metres from us, we laughed, joked and had a few drinks, caught up with (or in my case met) friends and friends of friends. It was actually all very civilised. I enjoyed it immensely.
There is something special about that kind of casual proximity, separated simply by a small picket fence. You get an appreciation for the size of the players, you can hear them talking to each other on the field, you can comprehend the physical demands, the speed, the skill. You are sucked into the action, more precisely; you feel a part of it.
You may not get the unparalleled viewing experience of the Telstra Dome, or the overwhelming dominance history of the MCG, you may even struggle to see what is happening on the other side of the ground, but the whole experience was very social, very communal.
There was a lot of character at Manuka Oval that day, a lot of soul. I genuinely enjoyed myself, and I couldn’t for the life of me tell you what happened or who won, yet I remember it more vividly than the dozens of other matches I have been to.
Whilst there is an undoubted awe attached the gargantuan MCG, the history and the mere size is intimidating. There truly is something to be said for being a part of a massive one hundred thousand strong crowd, but really, when it comes to enjoying the game – and myself – the experience of Manuka Oval left all of my games at the MCG for dead.
Maybe the niche sports are onto something.
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