The Vancouver Warriors face off against the Saskatchewan Rush on Feb. 10 in a heated and anticipated game — or so I was told. Truthfully, I had never heard of either team until recently. That night, I attended my first lacrosse game, and it was electrifying. 

First off, the crowd was incredible. I was lucky to attend Marvel night so seeing the families participate in their wonderful superhero costumes was so great to see. Sometimes we forget how much the crowd matters, but the atmosphere in Vancouver is something different. The engagement as well was something spectacular. The DJ worked his magic and when the Warriors had possession of the ball, the music was intense and pumped the crowd up. When the opposing team had possession, the music became more mellow as a kind of taunt you would say, which was hilarious.  .     

Along with the crowd engagement, I noticed how involved the community this team is. During the Warriors’ entrance and halftime, they both had kids from the community participate heavily and shine a light on the future athletes of tomorrow, which was so amazing to see. Representation and involvement are especially important to have, especially for a team like this. Not only does it represent the care and motivation the team has, but it also gives kids on and off the floor someone to admire and aspire to be one day. I thought it was such a special moment to watch the New Westminster Minor Salmonbellies lacrosse team play. Hearing the crowd support them truly represented what being a Vancouver fan is all about.  .  

Lastly, regarding the team itself, I had the opportunity to be a part of the post-game news conference and we got to speak to a couple of players. Although it was a close loss, it did not change their ambition and motivation to keep working harder and persevering forward as a team. Reid mentions “Our approach and our whole philosophy is to stick to the process don’t waiver and don’t start pointing fingers … learn from what isn’t working.”     

Bowering emphasized that the Warriors are one big family and if one starts to point fingers at one another, that dynamic will crumble. Furthermore, I asked Coach Curt Malawsky how the crowd impacted the game and the players, especially nodding to how loyal Vancouver fans were and how “alive” the crowd was at this game. Malawsky gave his perspective on what the fans and the crowd’s ongoing support means to the team.  .  

“ I thought it was great, you know the organization has done a really good job our marketing group you know the people out there doing ticket sales have done an excellent job putting people in the building, that’s a hard part for me to know that we’re letting them down … they expect this team to win lacrosse games and I’ve got full reign to do it and it’s on me… our people are doing a great job by motivating the fans and keeping everybody in it’s a great fan experience… we have to do our best to try and turn things around.” – Coach Curt Malawsky   

Although it is a very tough loss to swallow, Warriors fans will continue to grow. You can already see, and you can feel it. One thing about our city is that no matter how good or bad our respective teams are doing, the fans never fail to show up. Show up even if you have never seen a game of lacrosse, like me, and if not for the sport itself I recommend going for the experience and the memories you can make in that arena, it is truly a sight to see.