From no idea to raving fan in three periods
I almost feel embarrassed to admit this, but this year was the first time I had attended Queenstown’s annual Winterfest.
It’s only two hours up and road and my mother lives in the town but, for some reason, I had never made it.
This year the planets fell into alignment and at the end of the weekend I was left wondering what took me so long.
Watching dazzling fireworks light up the night sky as a fully-lit Earnslaw made its way to dock was an image I won’t forget in a hurry and Saturday was filled with too much food and too much drink. Perfect.
But the highlight came on the Saturday night. And it was so much better than I expected.
Instead of sitting in front of a TV set to watch the All Blacks open their series with the British and Irish Lions, we headed to the Queenstown Ice Arena to watch the Southern Stampede take on the Botany Swarm.
This was my live ice hockey debut. Now, I’ve been lucky enough to watch plenty of great sport over the years, but I’ve got to tell you this makes the list as one of my all-time favourite sporting experiences.
The crowd was raucous, there was standing room only, there were chants for most of the local players every time they touched the puck or made a save and the action on the ice was frenetic with the home side running away to an 8-0 win.
There was even the classic bench-clearing gloves-off ice hockey brawl a minute from time. (DISCLAIMER: This sentence does not in any way condone violence)
I’ve become a massive fan of American sport. I love watching NFL, MLB, NBA and more recently the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. I watch more American sport than NZ sport these days!
I must admit, I didn’t have high expectations of what the standard and experience at a local ice hockey game would be.
It was a classic case of “surprise and delight” at the Queenstown rink. Because of that, I’m now telling as many people as I can, what an outstanding experience it was. I’m so glad we went.
How can your business or organisation convert the great unwashed (as I was) into a raving fan (as I now am)?
What would you need to do? Now, why aren’t you doing it?
