Our cheersquad: why is it so tiny ?

[saint66au]

i was at the game on Sunday and got seats to the side of our cheer squad ... it was pretty sad honestly the stadium was pretty empty in general but our cheer squad was really light on numbers ....

as for interstate games .. i could 100% guarentee a full cheer squad area of Saints fans for our game against the dockers i could have 100 loud rowdy eager members ready to yell til they can no longer and wave flags and floggers like there was no tomorrow ... i could have 25 strong able bodied members ready to turn up at 8am on game day in full st kilda kit willing to help hold the players banner ... sadly the cheer squad dont want our help in WA and would rather get Freo fans or randoms to help them on game day ....

its a shame really

You serious?? Thats appalling if so and Id be contacting the Club about it

[loris]

i was at the game on Sunday and got seats to the side of our cheer squad ... it was pretty sad honestly the stadium was pretty empty in general but our cheer squad was really light on numbers ....

as for interstate games .. i could 100% guarentee a full cheer squad area of Saints fans for our game against the dockers i could have 100 loud rowdy eager members ready to yell til they can no longer and wave flags and floggers like there was no tomorrow ... i could have 25 strong able bodied members ready to turn up at 8am on game day in full st kilda kit willing to help hold the players banner ... sadly the cheer squad dont want our help in WA and would rather get Freo fans or randoms to help them on game day ....

its a shame really

Yes 'st_Trav.................... I agree, a real shame.

All the noise, chanting and singing behind the goal in the top tier at Subi is always started by that old (not in age) Western Saints stalwart of yesteryear our quoirmaster, Harry................. he revs the Sainter crowd up, has them clapping, singing and chanting from the first bounce down, after every score, and he doesn't let up until the final siren sounds, even if we are being beaten. He gets all the atmosphere and emotion going behind the goals.

I can recall one year, my ticket was down the front with the cheer squad and the Saints scored their first goal in the first quarter and from above in the stand we could hear Harry booming out and getting the mob around him to sing "When the Saints Go Marching In". All the cheer squad members turned around in amazement to see and hear the noise........ they had hardly made any noise, with just a wave of a few flags and a couple of screams of Go Saints. clap, clap, clap.

The woman sitting infront of me (part of the cheer squad), said something like "they (meaning Harry & the mob) are going at that a bit early aren't they? It's a long time before the end of the match. You should only sing the song when it's near certain the Saints will win the game." One of our Western Sainters was amazed at that attitude and in not too polite manner told her.........."Madam we don't get many chances to see our players here in the West and we will sing when and how we like, and if we don't kick many goals this afternoon, you'll find us singing after a point....... if you don't like our noise, don't come over."
I was a bit embarrassed by his aggression to another Saint supporter, but I agreed with his passion and sentiments. They take up some of our seat allocations............. Trav is right he could really rustle up many loud and proud Sainters to do a sterling job behind the goals.

[st_Trav_ofWA]

i was at the game on Sunday and got seats to the side of our cheer squad ... it was pretty sad honestly the stadium was pretty empty in general but our cheer squad was really light on numbers ....

as for interstate games .. i could 100% guarentee a full cheer squad area of Saints fans for our game against the dockers i could have 100 loud rowdy eager members ready to yell til they can no longer and wave flags and floggers like there was no tomorrow ... i could have 25 strong able bodied members ready to turn up at 8am on game day in full st kilda kit willing to help hold the players banner ... sadly the cheer squad dont want our help in WA and would rather get Freo fans or randoms to help them on game day ....

its a shame really

You serious?? Thats appalling if so and Id be contacting the Club about it

been there done that Mike ... its a work in progress

[st_Trav_ofWA]

Yes 'st_Trav.................... I agree, a real shame.

All the noise, chanting and singing behind the goal in the top tier at Subi is always started by that old (not in age) Western Saints stalwart of yesteryear our quoirmaster, Harry................. he revs the Sainter crowd up, has them clapping, singing and chanting from the first bounce down, after every score, and he doesn't let up until the final siren sounds, even if we are being beaten. He gets all the atmosphere and emotion going behind the goals.

I can recall one year, my ticket was down the front with the cheer squad and the Saints scored their first goal in the first quarter and from above in the stand we could hear Harry booming out and getting the mob around him to sing "When the Saints Go Marching In". All the cheer squad members turned around in amazement to see and hear the noise........ they had hardly made any noise, with just a wave of a few flags and a couple of screams of Go Saints. clap, clap, clap.

The woman sitting infront of me (part of the cheer squad), said something like "they (meaning Harry & the mob) are going at that a bit early aren't they? It's a long time before the end of the match. You should only sing the song when it's near certain the Saints will win the game." One of our Western Sainters was amazed at that attitude and in not too polite manner told her.........."Madam we don't get many chances to see our players here in the West and we will sing when and how we like, and if we don't kick many goals this afternoon, you'll find us singing after a point....... if you don't like our noise, don't come over."
I was a bit embarrassed by his aggression to another Saint supporter, but I agreed with his passion and sentiments. They take up some of our seat allocations............. Trav is right he could really rustle up many loud and proud Sainters to do a sterling job behind the goals.

i think that may have been me putting the cheersquad in their place at that game Loris ... might be part of the reason they dont really like me

honestly we have some of the most loyal supporters here in the West and when our boys come to town that loyalty go's into overdrive ! i remember in Harveys 350th we were that loud it was almost like there were no WCE supporters there ...

[saintdooley]

It is very clear the cheer squad is not what it used to be. Going to the games as a kid I remember getting there as the gates opened to get the best seat or if not at least within the first hour of opening as it was first in best dressed and if it was a 7.10 Saturday night game I can guarantee all those seats would be taken by 6pm, we had people who were excited to go, families taking up 5, 6, 8 seats etc. Might I include that they were also the days where I paid $25 cash to a committee member to get my membership, not like that any more. A lot has changed over the past few years, the club has taken over and are doing the best they can to get people involved. Like any cheer squad or club you will find numbers drop dramatically when a team is on the down like us. Our cheer squad is now reserved seating, so if a family doesn't turn up, those seats will remain empty, and unfortunately most of those empty seats on Sunday had a name to them, people just don't want to go watch a losing side.

I have no idea what the troubles in the past with the cs and WA Saints are but it really does sound childish. Over the past few years I've tried hard to work with Trav in getting people to come out with the banner. So far I think its worked pretty well, we play over there pretty soon I will keep in touch. We understand you only see 1 game a year, 2 if very lucky. Surely we don't take up too many of your seats, I think the most cs members I've seen over in Perth is about 12...which Is no more than 24 seats! This year I would be very surprised if we got more than 6 so you will have a bit more room.

I can't see our numbers growing until the team improves. It is not just us, all over the ground for a saints home game you can see heaps of vacant seats, people don't like watching their team lose, at the moment there is not one game for the rest of the year I would say is a guaranteed win. I would say please help out and buy a cheer squad membership but you could end up in debt and probably without a seat.

[saintspremiers]

Dools - that's possibly your best post on this site well done.

Who is the president if the cheersquad?

Needs to be someone young (ie under 50) IMO.

Maybe a push for numbers through saints Facebook would be a start.

[st_Trav_ofWA]

dools you have been a great asset to the Western Saints for a while now mate and it was good to have a chat on Sunday at the game ...
as for the ticket allocations the cheersquad dont take up any of our allocation as we get those seats not used by cheersquad members ... im not for one second saying we dont want the cheer squad here .. we just wanna help them and be one big group of wild sainters ...
as you said dools the Cheersquad and the Western Saints have not had the best relationship for many many years well before my time .. problem is the Western Saints have evolved from those days where the cheer squad are still stuck in that time warp ...

i couldnt agree more with saintspremiers the people in charge of the cheersquad need to be under the age of 50 and need to be people willing to look and work outside of the box ... doing the same ol same ol will produce the same ol same ol ...

[stinger]

i was at the game on Sunday and got seats to the side of our cheer squad ... it was pretty sad honestly the stadium was pretty empty in general but our cheer squad was really light on numbers ....

as for interstate games .. i could 100% guarentee a full cheer squad area of Saints fans for our game against the dockers i could have 100 loud rowdy eager members ready to yell til they can no longer and wave flags and floggers like there was no tomorrow ... i could have 25 strong able bodied members ready to turn up at 8am on game day in full st kilda kit willing to help hold the players banner ... sadly the cheer squad dont want our help in WA and would rather get Freo fans or randoms to help them on game day ....

its a shame really

sad really st trav.....

[gringo]

i was at the game on Sunday and got seats to the side of our cheer squad ... it was pretty sad honestly the stadium was pretty empty in general but our cheer squad was really light on numbers ....

as for interstate games .. i could 100% guarentee a full cheer squad area of Saints fans for our game against the dockers i could have 100 loud rowdy eager members ready to yell til they can no longer and wave flags and floggers like there was no tomorrow ... i could have 25 strong able bodied members ready to turn up at 8am on game day in full st kilda kit willing to help hold the players banner ... sadly the cheer squad dont want our help in WA and would rather get Freo fans or randoms to help them on game day ....

its a shame really

My kid found an old 1980s book on vfl and it said the name of the big pom poms was floggers. Maybe people just don't want to flog in public anymore. At least the high priest of the lubricated fist has backed up again and is setting himself up as our Joffa. He needs a gut full of beer though so he gets up and about.

[paulski]

Jeezus!! Cheersquad members not turning up cos we're losing?

Aren't they supposed to be the most passionate supporters?

Maybe they're just happy to pay for the good seats!

STRENGTH THROUGH LOYALTY -- only when we're winning!!

[St Lenny]

It's not just the cheer Squad who are feeling a bit flat lately. I suspect there are many other SAINTS Fans/Members feeling the same. I have a proposal in another thread that will hopefully lift the spirits (and the size of the crowd). Now if only I was technical enough to link it on this thread.

Having said all that, I'm sure that a win or 3 would see the numbers grow and the spirits rise !!

WHen the going gets tough, the tough getting going. We use to pride ourselves on our loyalty, mmmmmmm, what happened there? Quick to point the finger (not you Eastern), but Saints fans in general I think are pretty weak compared to other clubs.

As for the cheer squad, same again. Quick to point the finger and say how poor we are, but not prepared to put the hand up and do anything about it.

[matrix]

well apparently you cant drink in the cheer squad in melb

so i couldnt even sit in there and have the customary two beers per game (got to drive home), i would be kicked out

in fact
when over here in sa last year we were asked to help with the banner as not enough c/s peeps came over
the first question i was asked was home many beers have you had
err this is the first sip out of the first beer (Just got back from getting food and drinks)
well can you not have any more until after youve done the banner please.
yeah sure thats understandable, i might make a complete ass of the c/s and the club by going off my banana on one beer

unreal
but i do understand why they ask this

its getting pretty light on in numbers interstate

does the club help with anything when interstate trips are on??
who pays for the banner to get flown over etc???

[st_Trav_ofWA]

dont even get me started on the beers Matrix .... i had a conversation with the former president of the cheersquad a while back when she "allowed" 4 positions to hold up the banner to our members (from memory there was under 10 cheersquad members in perth that day so the others were going to be randoms and opp supporters) he comment to me was "provided they are not drunk from the Western Saints Function" ... i laughed cause i thought she was joking as it was a breakfast function that year but she was dead serious and really didnt like the fact i was laughing ...

i dont know what the issue is with the cheersquad and alcohol , responcible adults can consume alcohol without being drunk ...

[saintspremiers]

dont even get me started on the beers Matrix .... i had a conversation with the former president of the cheersquad a while back when she "allowed" 4 positions to hold up the banner to our members (from memory there was under 10 cheersquad members in perth that day so the others were going to be randoms and opp supporters) he comment to me was "provided they are not drunk from the Western Saints Function" ... i laughed cause i thought she was joking as it was a breakfast function that year but she was dead serious and really didnt like the fact i was laughing ...

i dont know what the issue is with the cheersquad and alcohol , responcible adults can consume alcohol without being drunk ...

I can, you can, matrix can have a couple of beers and not go over the top and many cant unfortunately. It's part of our footy culture.

[st_Trav_ofWA]

dont even get me started on the beers Matrix .... i had a conversation with the former president of the cheersquad a while back when she "allowed" 4 positions to hold up the banner to our members (from memory there was under 10 cheersquad members in perth that day so the others were going to be randoms and opp supporters) he comment to me was "provided they are not drunk from the Western Saints Function" ... i laughed cause i thought she was joking as it was a breakfast function that year but she was dead serious and really didnt like the fact i was laughing ...

i dont know what the issue is with the cheersquad and alcohol , responcible adults can consume alcohol without being drunk ...

I can, you can, matrix can have a couple of beers and not go over the top and many cant unfortunately. It's part of our footy culture.

i disagree

how many of our supporters get thrown out from the game for being drunk ?
our members in WA are served alcohol in a responcible manner under government guidlines we dont premote drunkeness
the vast majority will be able to have a beer or two
the vast majoity in WA want to watch the game so getting blind before it is pointless - after the game sure some of our members like to let their hair down (especially after a win) but before the game to hold up the banner i reckon you would have an easier time finding a 1880's prospector than a drunk western saints member

[evertonfc]

Chicken an egg.

You criticise cheersquad, they criticise back.

Been that way for, oh, say 20 years now?

Personally, I'd wind down the cheer squad, and move towards an active supporters bay.

You can still have those who have their moment in the sun of hauling up the banner, but do away with the aging, creaking nature of the Cheer Squad and their crap chants.
'
The club should target some 18-30 year old members and investigate their interest in creating a proper "active area".

Get back the spirit of the Animal Enclosure. It's in our DNA.

[paulski]

Great idea evertonfc! An active area would be awesome!

Me and a couple of mate would be very keen on that.

Passionate supporters who don't get told to sit down when we kick a goal, like I had in my last reserved seat!

As long as it doesn't turn into the "grog squad". Would make going to the footy fun like it was at Morrabbin.

Even a standing area where there were 50 odd passionate Saints fans would do me!

[GrumpyOne]

Great idea evertonfc! An active area would be awesome!

Me and a couple of mate would be very keen on that.

Passionate supporters who don't get told to sit down when we kick a goal, like I had in my last reserved seat!

As long as it doesn't turn into the "grog squad". Would make going to the footy fun like it was at Morrabbin.

Even a standing area where there were 50 odd passionate Saints fans would do me!

Great idea..... I'll chip in for the barbed wire.

Be great to see the return of the River of Piss outside the dunnies at each break.

[St Lenny]

Would be a very sad day for footy if the cheer squads were wound up.

[Rosco]

I sat next to them and if they mostly didn't take up two seats on an aircraft it would have been even worse. I was actually cringing at the chants too. The fisting cardinal was pretty silent too. If you dress like a dick go hard IMO. Imagine what the interstate games are like.

"If you dress like a dick go hard IMO"

Couldn't have put it better. If we are going to have a CS, we need some real nutters.

[saintspremiers]

Would be a very sad day for footy if the cheer squads were wound up.

Winding up nothing is not an issue.

Bring on the Active Area. Sounds to me like the Richmond/Collingwood type CS - full of genuine passion noise and craziness.

Our CS would fit in nicely at a Play School concert.

[plugger66]

Because all of them have the first name Tim.

[saint66au]

The Alcohol in the Cheersquad rule is an AFL directive and the Club can be fined if people drink in the CS area.

[stinger]

came across a rather loud mouthed older woman member of the cheersquad recently...she would not have been out of place in a ss uniform.....

[saints11]

IMO, cheersquads are quite cringey these days, most clubs have one or two generic chants such as [Team name] clap, clap, clap, there's no originality, at all. Having an active area approach like soccer would be a lot better and would probably bring more people into the 'cheersquad'. Just my opinion though.