With the tremendous run of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets long playoff run, still fresh in our minds, a new journey within the Winnipeg professional sporting world is set to begin with the Canadian Premier League June 6th. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will announce the team name, colors, and ticket prices.
As the “White Out” rallied Winnipeggers for a common cause of seeing the Winnipeg Jets go for a deep playoff run, we as soccer fans of a new professional team in this city can take some inspiration and lessons as we embark on our exciting new journey.
The enthusiasm shown by Jets fans during the playoffs is a testament to this city’s passion for supporting their sports teams in both poor and great times. Before the 2017-2018 season, the Winnipeg Jets had only qualified for the playoffs once since returning for the 2011-2012 season. Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers made the playoffs for the first time in 2016 since reaching the Grey Cup final in 2011.
While everything may fall into place for us for an inaugural championship season, we as supporters will require the same passion and patience shown by Winnipeggers for our other sports teams to ensure a long-term winning tradition for our club.
Secondly, as supporters of our new soccer team we will create unique traditions within Winnipeg to build our base and attract new supporters, which will create an exciting game day experience, similar to how the White Out connected both old and new hockey fans. This includes marches to the game, chants, songs, and perhaps TIFO. That’s the experience we want fans at games to enjoy.
We look forward to building a new tradition of making Winnipeg into a soccer city, like what we did to develop our town’s reputation as a hockey city.
Come join us June 6th, as we march to the stadium as a supporters group for the first time to show support for our new pro soccer team.