The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Friday Night Futbol: Great initiative, but ...
In car ads, manufacturers strive to show off horsepower by having cars roaring around hairpin turns. While the turns are made, a disclaimer appears at the bottom of the screen, something along the lines of, “Closed course. Do not attempt.”
There is an infamous Dairy Queen ad for a brownie batter Blizzard in which a man sticks his tongue into an electric mixer. The disclaimer states, “Do not attempt.”
In both instances, the obvious reaction is, “Duh.”
The point is, they mean well. The intent is great. But it’s a shame the point needs to be made at all.
That pretty much sums up how I feel about Friday Night Futbol, the season-opening initiative championed by the Ohio High School Athletic Association to promote high school soccer’s opening match day.
It’s a great idea — take the Friday before football begins, and let soccer have that spotlight. Encourage schools and communities to appreciate soccer in the same way they do their gridiron heroes week after week throughout the fall.
Bring the fans. Bring the bands, along with the pomp and circumstance.
Make your soccer sides feel like the star of the show.
They mean well with Friday Night Futbol.
It’s just a shame the prompting is needed.
Our area has such a high caliber and tradition in soccer. In recent years:
Lake Catholic and Kirtland respectively made it to state finals on the girls side a year ago. Gilmour won a state title in 2016, and Chagrin Falls was a state runner-up that year.
University was an extra-time goal away from the final four in 2017. The Lake and Mentor boys and Hawken boys and girls have made state runs this decade.
More schools are embracing the sport and forging their own identity.
More sides are deviating away from kickball and playing soccer — which was not always taking place. There are more sides than ever playing an attractive brand of the game and winning at least 10 matches every fall.
You could make a case, especially in girls soccer, area quality has never been better overall.
And yet, we need an initiative to encourage, if not plead, with people to show up for soccer matches.
For all the word salad by experts and non-experts alike on this subject, soccer does have an exposure problem.
Not nearly enough segments of society and corners of our country are seeing the virtue of soccer. It isn’t being sold well. Part of that issue isn’t just the playing aspect. It is the fan aspect, too. The Chagrin-Kenston boys match that I covered Aug. 17 was a perfect example of how Friday Night Futbol should be used to grow the game.
It’s a rivalry match, so it’s a no-brainer for the student body to rally behind. Nothing sounds better than a chance to see the school down the street lose, no matter the sport.
The Kenston Krazies were out in full force. A sizeable Chagrin student contingent arrived right at kickoff and was vocal.
There was a decent fan gathering on both sides.
Chances are, a decent percentage of those people won’t regularly attend a soccer match — but that’s OK, because at least they were willing to do so.
Those are the people who need to be targeted — the ones with an open mind.
Parents and families will always show up. Classmates, friends, boyfriends and girlfriends will always be there for support.
But more of an effort should be made in communities — in school hallways and out in public — to entice the open-minded to show up for soccer.
The naysayers won’t show up — and that’s perfectly fine. But let’s try to develop the fanbase with those willing to make the trip at all.
So — as great of an idea as it is — the spirit of Friday Night Futbol should be followed on all days.
Monday Afternoon Futbol. Tuesday Night Futbol. Saturday Morning Futbol.
Every chance you have to grow the game, let that be a daily opportunity up and down the calendar.
The product locally has never been more appealing. It just needs improved marketing. And you don’t need to see a sports car on a hairpin turn or some random guy with his tongue in an electric mixer to know better.
Lillstrung can be reached at CLillstrung@News-Herald. com; @CLillstrungNH on Twitter.