R87 Posted July 6, 2014 Report Share Posted July 6, 2014 Sadly there's nothing to attract young people at the moment . We were stood on the back straight at Glasgow last Sunday anspeedway meeting.ere was a grand total of 2 kids . The majority of the rest of the inhabitants wouldnt see 50 again . There's just too much going on elsewhere for youngsters to be interested in standing in a crumbling stadium , whistling with their hands in their pockets as another delay takes place while listening to mindnumbing gibberish over the microphone in between the seventies greatest hits being played . By god we even had Crazy Horses by the Osmonds being played at Glasgow the other week Agreed. However it wont change while clubs go with the "job for the boys" mantra. Its why I chose not to go to the British Final - I don't want to be standing around at 11PM at a spee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Both of my kids lost interest in speedway when they hit their teens. It was different when i was their age, big crowds in big stadiums. 300 people at rye house on a damp saturday don't have the same appeal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 I reckon that will be one of the main reasons for dropping Crowds. Though how something imaginary takes the place of REAL excitement - I really don't know. :shock: You can be a sporting God or a war hero on a Playstation or PC without any real effort or any risk of getting hurt. Unfortunately many people, not just kids, think that's the same excitement they would get from doing it for real. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 The gap between heats is unavoidable - though could be reduced. What speedway needs to do is fill that gap with entertainment of some sort - just as say t20 has entertainment between overs, or sevens rugby does between games. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruffdiamond Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Young people do not like speedway because it's not a continuous event. The delay - unavoidable of course - between each race tends to annoy them. youngster's need to be entertained regurlally,,, dunno if clowns would work, and I don't think they would be hard to find, lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woz01 Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 My daughter loves the sport, although as others said the time between heats annoys her. It is something that could be avoided most of the time. At Coventry there seems to be quite a lot of children that attend, maybe because its a Friday night club? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ommer Mon Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 One thing at Cradley that is good for the Under 12s is the 'Ollie the Ommer' Club, christened after our Club Mascot. They have events for the kids before racing and fun days back in the Cradley Heath area. Some of the kids get to wave flags as the riders come out of the pits on the parade. It all helps to get them involved and keeps them interested. In addition, the riders walk out on the dog track and high five the kids at the front of the terraces on the parade. We also have interviews at the end af the meeting with the riders on the dog track again and they will stop to chat and sign autographs on their way back to the pits. All very minor things but they do all add up to get the kids more involved and that must help. I recall a photo of Erik Gundersen at Dudley Wood Primary School surrounded by cheering kids. That involvement is something that appears lost to the sport today. If I were a Promoter I would distribute some free tickets to schools and then hopefully any kids interested would bring a paying adult with them. Simple idea but is it actually done? I know this is only targeted at Under 12s and I accept the need to get teenagers more involved. I've got a couple of my own and it is very difficult with all the counter attractions these days. X Box has taken over the world! They do go but I know it's only to 'keep Dad happy!'. Sad but the simple message is that Promoters need to promote and apart from articles in the Sports pages you don't see much evidence of that at a local level generally though the Heathens do more than most with their social evenings. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewbacca Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 I agree. There are plenty already buzzing around the sport. Not like the near 20,000 crowds of the late 1940s on Wednesday nights at New Cross when the riders were National Press sporting figures and the champions recognised as such in the media. Gone times that will never ever return. And tv had not been invented. Speedway is in a competitive marketplace and it's not competing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Hartsock Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 The reason Matt Ford has been successfull is because what you all are talking about he has done, Schools, Holiday Parks, etc. And please leave my Xbox alone, And it does rule. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 The reason Matt Ford has been successfull is because what you all are talking about he has done, Schools, Holiday Parks, etc. And please leave my Xbox alone, And it does rule. Too true. You never see kids out playing these days - much to the detriment of their Health. :sad: Mind you - they will have the fittest THUMBS ever. :rolleyes: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilsonpaul198 Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Young people do not like speedway because it's not a continuous event. The delay - unavoidable of course - between each race tends to annoy them. It annoys me and I"m 55.Certain delays can be avoidable. Break the tapes have the 2nd set ready ....racing in 1 min and do not go back to the pits 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherwatcher Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 I go to Leiccester Lions with my 9 year old grandson and he loves it. Not sure if it is with it being on a Saturday night with no school the day after but the Lions have quite a strong base of younger memebers there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillpool Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Not sure I would appreciate a load of teenagers loitering on the terraces with their side partings and espadrilles. Speedway is ideal for the mature sports fan and we should embrace the anoraks, badges, plastic bags and flasks. I was at Rye House on Saturday night and the old lady next to me smelt of Murray Mints which is far more preferable than Obsession for Men or whatever it is the kids wear these days. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulco Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Not sure I would appreciate a load of teenagers loitering on the terraces with their side partings and espadrilles. Speedway is ideal for the mature sports fan and we should embrace the anoraks, badges, plastic bags and flasks. I was at Rye House on Saturday night and the old lady next to me smelt of Murray Mints which is far more preferable than Obsession for Men or whatever it is the kids wear these days. I think the point is , how do we replace the over 50's over the next 10 or 20 years 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 I think the point is , how do we replace the over 50's over the next 10 or 20 years With more over 50's - I hope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shale Searcher Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 I think it's down to promoters, just not promoting!!! Sitting back and expecting fans and new fans to just appear.... There's no newspaper adverts these days, ok, the odd school fete appearance, and anything that's free, but would it hurt to pay for some sort of advertising? Crikey, people have so much to choose from entertainment wise these days and probably base the product on the quality of its adverts.. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFCB Wildcat Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 Too true. You never see kids out playing these days - much to the detriment of their Health. :sad: Mind you - they will have the fittest THUMBS ever. :rolleyes: I watched a lad delivering a free paper earlier on our industrial estate. His mum drove him into every car park and right up to each factory door as she does every week! The xbox generation; unbelievable!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shale Searcher Posted July 7, 2014 Report Share Posted July 7, 2014 How many friends/acquaintances do you know that didn't know about your local track until you told em?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 I think it's down to promoters, just not promoting!!!Sitting back and expecting fans and new fans to just appear....There's no newspaper adverts these days, ok, the odd school fete appearance, and anything that's free, but would it hurt to pay for some sort of advertising?Crikey, people have so much to choose from entertainment wise these days and probably base the product on the quality of its adverts.. If you want to attract a younger crowd, then im not sure print ads are the way to go. Social media advertising could be done effectively, for free or at a very low cost. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LagutaRacingFan Posted July 8, 2014 Report Share Posted July 8, 2014 The average age of a speedway fan is rising, It's only a matter of time that these older people have to start cutting back on finances and speedway hasn't tackled the issue of attracting young people to the sport and this is down to many reasons but the major ones revolve around value for money. Me and Laura (GF) attended a speedway meeting last month and It cost us £75 in terms of travel, tickets and a bit to eat and quite simply, for 16,17 and 18 year olds; there isn't the level of disposable income to justify this and the value for money argument is a big one; 15 races spread out over 2 hours usually in the freezing climate isn't great value for money. I recently attended a Kasabian concert and It cost me and Laura £85 for the night out but we got full value for money, Around 2 hours of pure concentrated music and there wasn't a 5 minute gap between each song. My solution is to get rid of the star riders, Price speedway at £5 for Adults and £1 for Under 18's, most of the general public don't even know who these star riders are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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