By Trevor Greenway
If there is one thing players and coaches have been most impressed with this season, it would have to be the fan response. As a new team in the league, the Rapids didn’t really know how popular they would be. But when 518 fans packed the Low arena for their inaugural home game last October, it was clear that this team was here to stay. A record 628 fans showed up for the Heritage Game on Feb. 3.
“This team has brought our community together in ways that I don’t know what else could have,” said fan Shelley Merrifield, who has attended every single game this year, including travelling as far as Chesterville and Cornwall to support the Rapids on the road. She said there is a crew of about 30 or so fans from Low who travel to every away game.
“Since COVID, there has been nothing, so it’s important to show our support for them the way they supported our community,” she said.
And it’s not just Merrifield who has caught the Rapids bug. Anyone who has attended a home game can agree that it’s the place to be Saturday night. The Low arena is always packed with fans, many of them clad in blue and black Rapids colours from team hoodies to hats. Kids run around, hopped up on sugar, some playing mini sticks in the dressing room hallways. Older fans keep bartenders busy or rally the crowd with “Let’s go, Rapids, let’s go,” like Becky Early did all game Feb. 18 during Game 2 of the playoffs. She didn’t have much of a voice by the end of the game.
The Rapids have become more than just hockey players on the local team. They’ve been donating volunteer hours to help with the figure skating club at the Low arena after their weekday practices and are helping young hockey players improve their skills.
But away from the arena, the team is also helping kids deal with the struggles of life, most recently by speaking to kids at St. Mike’s high school about mental health during suicide prevention week.
“[The Rapids are] a bunch of kids but they have their roots in the local community,” added Merrifield from the bleachers of the Richcraft Sensplex Feb. 17 during Game 1 of the Rapids playoff series. She was decked out in Rapids merch – a hoodie and mittens with that familiar blue and black logo.
There were close to 200 fans from Low who made the trip to Ottawa to see Game 1, hoping their Rapids would win and force a decisive Game 2 in Low. They did, with a 6-4 victory.