Bandits morning game a huge success...off the ice

Published on November 4, 2004 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
St. Louis Bandits News Release


A highly innovative approach to reaching young fans resulted in over 2,000 school kids attending a morning NAHL game in Texarkana this week.

Tuesday's 10:30 a.m. start time for the Bandits game against the Central Texas Marshals drew a season's best 2,987 fans -- of which about over 1,900 were scheduled to attend from area schools (and another 200 school kids ended up coming). The Bandits tied the game in to the local D.A.R.E (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program and sold discounted tickets to the schools who bussed the children to the game as they would for any other field trip.

Once at the Four States Fairgrounds Entertainment Center, the youngsters heard a 15-minute presentation from the ice on drug awareness from a local police officer and from Bandits coach and GM Jon Cooper.

Then it was time for the game which, unfortunately, was not a good performance by the home team, losing 3-0 with two empty net goals at the end (although they outshot the Marshals 36-20).

"But as bad as our players felt, they all went up in the stands after the game to speak with the kids and give them autographs," said Bandits co-owner Kelly Chase. "These school kids were really excited. They wanted autographs from everyone, even our mascot."

They also received a gift bag from SONIC Restaurants, which contained a Bandits magnetic schedule and pocket schedule, coupons for SONIC foods, and an application for the team's kid's club, the Bandit Buddies. T-shirts were also given away, and there was a raffle draw for the teachers. Tickets to the public were discounted at the door for $8 dollars for this game only.

"The folks from SONIC were really happy," says Chase. "They are one of our sponsors and the main sponsor for this event. When the president of SONIC saw all these kids watching the game, and saw the SONIC logos we use as our neutral zone faceoff dots, he was even happier.

"This is a program every team in the league should consider. It is successful from a civic responsibility standpoint, from an entertainment standpoint, and from a sponsor standpoint. And a 10:30 a.m. weekday game sure beats a Friday night game in November when you're competing against high school football."

Chase also said the Bandit Buddies program will get a big boost from the event. "There's no reason we can't get 400 kids signed up out of this." For $15, Bandit Buddy members get a free T-shirt, a team puck, a poster, a ticket to a "Kid's Club Night" game, a free one-time skating pass at the Four States Fair Arena and more.

The Bandits inaugurated the program with D.A.R.E. last year not knowing what to expect and got 1,200 kids show up. ""We had such positive feedback from the teachers, parents and local law enforcement delivering the "anti-drug" message, we decided to do it again," said Cooper. "We had around twice as many committed schools to attend this game as we did last year"

Chase added that most of the schools participating this time were from the Arkansas side of this border town. "I'd say most of these kids had never been to a hockey game, but they loved it. We haven't reached the Texas side yet. We're doing another one in January and we could have 4,000 for that one.

"Hockey is still new in parts of the country and we need new ways to introduce people to the game. This is perfect."

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North American Hockey League Stories from November 4, 2004


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