It’s Greater Latrobe Ice Cat senior night. Preston Miller skates down the ice with the puck. Miller shoots, he scores! The student section goes wild… or does it?
The hockey games have been experiencing a lack of student attendance throughout the season. Each game, only a handful of students show up to support the Ice Cat’s expedition through the regular season.
Home games are played at Kirk S. Nevin in Greensburg. Some away games are played at Palmer Imaging Arena in Delmont. Both are relatively close (10-35 minutes depending on where you live) to the Latrobe/Greensburg area.
Bryant Dumnich, a four-year varsity senior, has noticed that the attendance has faded during his time on the team. He says, “My first two years the student attendance was greater and more energetic.”
On average “less than ten students” attend each game, says Bryant.
Dumnich thinks there are six students who show up to the games who make an impact in the den.
“Manny Synchula, Hunter McCully, Declan Murphy, Zaidin Pifer, Josh Vacha, and Logan Wilhelm are the only ones that show up to our games and their support is unreal for our team. They bring more energy than anyone to the games,” says Dumnich.
Senior Logan Wilhelm enjoys going to watch the team play. “I have a lot of friends on the team and it’s fun to watch them play. I like cheering on the fellas,” says Wilhelm.
Wilhelm and his friends bring support and energy to the games. They have made signs for some of the players and even painted their stomachs for senior night.
“My favorite memory of going to the games is when we painted our stomachs to spell out ‘CATS.’ It was senior night and we wanted to take a step up from the signs we had made earlier in the season, explains Wilhelm.
Dylan Morris, another four-year varsity senior, feels that attendance has an important role in the hockey games. “Having the kids there to support makes a huge difference, especially in big games like these last few that really matter in playoffs,” says Morris.
Morris, like Dumnich, has noticed a decline in the number of students attending games over his four years on the team. “It’s [attendance] for sure gone down. I remember the barn being packed consistently game to game, now it’s rare that we get a full den for games,” says Dylan.
He appreciates the few kids who do show up consistently. He said, “The core group of supporters that are always there have been really good for our performance. It feels good to have kids that care about the games consistently.”
Both Dumnich and Morris agree that lack of attendance may be caused by lack of publicizing the games and the late game times on school nights. “The den page on instagram hasn’t been posting about the games.”
Even without the student presence in the stands, the Ice Cats are still working hard on their quest for the Penguins Cup. Their hard work and determination has awarded them a playoff spot, where they will have a shot to win it all.
Logan WIlhelm plans to continue showing his unwavering support throughout the postseason. Logan says, “I’ll continue to be there and support my school’s team through the playoffs. Showing up for the boys gives them some extra support and gives them a moral boost, especially when we bring signs or paint ourselves, that helps them clutch big games. We don’t show up to just spectate. We show up to be loud, and cheer our friends and team on.”
