Hockey manager Rebecca Chaney has never been a huge sports fan. However, she loves the atmosphere of hockey games. “I enjoy watching our hockey team—it’s a fun game to watch, it’s a fun team to watch,” she said.
The change in hockey game times and the small number of Friday night games makes Chaney nervous, though. Last year after Principal Michael Griffith changed the time from 9 p.m. to 6:45 p.m., Chaney noticed that the atmosphere shifted. “The student section was virtually empty because people got caught for drinking, which is sad because we have a really good team,” she said.
Varsity hockey player Emmett Sweeney would have preferred the game times to have remained unchanged. “I’m upset because I’d rather have them [hockey games] on Friday nights,” he said, “because honestly, I’d rather see a rowdy crowd.” After the home opener last year, he remembered the huge decrease in student fans at Friday night games.
Chaney hopes this year students will still be as enthusiastic about hockey games as in years past. She said that if attendance drops, “it’s not really fair to the team.”
A version of this article appeared in print on 13 December 2012, on page 4 of The Shakerite
