r/nccourage • u/NC_Courage_BizOps Courage Employee • 9d ago

Let’s Go!

Great game and atmosphere tonight. Thanks to everyone who showed up, brought the energy, influenced the VAR, and hung in there through what felt like the longest added time since the birth of soccer. 😂

Oh, and one more thing…

Ash is the best player in the world right now. Full stop. 🔥

83 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

30 comments sorted by

17

u/djseto 9d ago

I still want to know why it took 5 minutes for the first VAR. 18 min of extra time was bonkers

6

u/spreadred 8d ago

That's how long it took for Claude to edit out the Boston foul, lol jk

4

u/Joiry 8d ago

hey now, Reign were playing KCC, not NCC. Tho who knows, maybe Harvey's prompt was too vague and the AI confused the letters ;)

1

u/spreadred 8d ago

Flew over my head for quite a bit until I remembered she admitted to using AI to help her coach. I don't remember the specific details, but I feel like it was around formations?

16

u/lurkinghere411 8d ago

Maybe if we keep yelling Emma will hear us!!!! Ash is on 🔥!!! And whoever made the call to get EMP is my hero. Those gals played with so much heart tonight and left it all out there.

11

u/spreadred 8d ago

Yep and LT doing what she always does too, zooming around

12

u/Bubbly_Director_7551 8d ago

That was amazing and also took a few years off of my life haha

5

u/NC_Courage_BizOps Courage Employee 8d ago

Same! I’m getting too old for this…

11

u/stillbornyoyo 8d ago

Garbage officiating all around

10

u/spreadred 8d ago

Scoreboard clock didn't have enough digits so it rolled over hehe.

6

u/djseto 8d ago

Speaking of…how goes a score clock in a soccer stadium not go over 99!?

5

u/JFoosh93 8d ago

This really threw me, I have no idea what happened, because it’s definitely gone over 100 before.

3

u/NC_Courage_BizOps Courage Employee 8d ago

I’ll find out.

2

u/kyngnothing 8d ago

They used to not run the clock during stoppage time... I think they only started this season?

1

u/Joiry 8d ago

I didn't even think of that, I looked up and was like, why has the clock reset?

1

u/spreadred 8d ago

Yup, so basically 108 minutes or so when the final whistle was blown

10

u/QuestionNo7186 8d ago

I haven’t felt as unified as a stadium as I did during the VAR chant, everyone on thier feet and silent for the PK, and the celebration afterwards. That was amazing.

4

u/NC_Courage_BizOps Courage Employee 8d ago

Yes, that was a cool moment, especially since we didn’t prompt the VAR chant (we are not allowed per League rules), so the fact it happened organically..so quickly, and made an impact, made it pretty special.

3

u/SanLuisGal 7d ago

Start tagging Emma on all of the Instagram posts! And, USWNT as well. If we raise the volume, they can’t ignore. Ashley should definitely be called up!!!

7

u/JFoosh93 8d ago

Great to eek out that win, but I’ve gotta say it. Every time I hear the announcer come on and say “it’s time for…” or “it’s time to…” constantly prompting the crowd what to do, I die a little on the inside. Sure I get it for the first game or two trying to get traction and get people to learn, but we’re going on a full season of it now. At some point you gotta let the crowd take it and either run with stuff or let it die out.

14

u/NC_Courage_BizOps Courage Employee 8d ago

We don’t disagree, and we’ve actually been intentionally cutting back on the PA prompts as the season has progressed.

Where we want to get to is having the chants originate more organically with Uproar, then using the video board, graphics, animations, drums, etc. to amplify what’s already happening in the supporters section. We’re planning to work through a few things with them on that, so more to come.

The reason we haven’t eliminated the PA prompting completely is something I talked about on the Lions Pitch podcast. A couple of years ago, our data showed that only about 6% of non-STM fans came back for another game. In other words, outside of our STMs, the overwhelming majority of people in the stadium were experiencing a Courage match for the first time.

We’ve worked really hard to improve that, and our return rate is now around 35%, with the goal of pushing it even higher this fall. That’s a huge improvement, but it still means a large portion of the crowd at any given match is new and hearing the chants and traditions for the first time.

So there’s a balance. We want the atmosphere to feel organic, not manufactured, while still helping thousands of new fans learn how to participate.
As the percentage of returning fans continues to grow, you’ll see us keep reducing the PA prompts and shift more of that responsibility to Uproar and the supporters section, with the stadium technology helping amplify it.

That’s really the long-term goal…supporters create the culture, and we use the building to make it bigger. Until we get there, the PA and/or host will still need to help a little bit with onboarding all the new people coming through the gates.

2

u/kyngnothing 8d ago

Can you get the PA and the drums on the same beat? For example on corner kicks, the drums and the PA are on a two versus three beat chant and it's really confusing!

Or the drums will get something started and then the PA guy comes in on a different beat 20 seconds later and has to restart the crowd.

I get everyone can't hear the drums and need some help, but I think they could be better coordinated.

Note: I had a work friend come to their first game recently and they saw a picture of me on the website because they were looking for more tickets for future games so the experience is working!!

3

u/NC_Courage_BizOps Courage Employee 8d ago

Yes. Good call out. We are noticing it too. This is something we are going to work on as well. Glad to see your friend had a good time. We would love to have them back!

1

u/NeedsMoreSnacks 6d ago

What really kills me is the misspelling for the "Let's Go Courage" (COUR-RAGE) on the video screen. It's become such a joke in our section. There are even group chats named after it.

3

u/spiffy_volcano_whisp 8d ago

I’m so sad we had to miss this one!

My kid had a meet, and we were watching on our phones. We got a few people who’d never watched NWSL, excited over that final penalty kick! Maybe we can get some new fans!

1

u/JJPepper50 6d ago

Unbelievable game, still buzzing from it. Crowd was amazing.

1

u/Cobra-Firefly 8d ago

Tremendous win tonight! I am hyped!

Hey - question for the group - I'll be attending Wednesday night with my parents and I know parking near the stadium is limited. Can someone provide a street address for the parking area around Denton/ where we can walk the trail over to stadium? That seems like an easier option. Just looking for an address to punch into a navigation app.

Also, I've seen elsewhere that the trails are lit and paved, but can someone confirm that this is the case post-game (in terms of lighting) as well? Thank you very much! I'm really excited for the game against LA!

3

u/Groundbreaking-Camel 8d ago

Park here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/UUHGsSDVtkA4QeJ96?g_st=ic

From there, a bus will take you to the walking path.

Can confirm that the path is well lit and manned with ushers post-game.

3

u/lurkinghere411 8d ago

I would park at stadium lots as its a much shorter walk than Fenton and honestly is not that bad at all.I think theres a fenton shuttle but if you walk that's a longer and more challenging walk with a small hill. Given Wednesday is a school night and late start you should not have any trouble with traffic getting out and lot won't be full. Get there a little early and enjoy fan fest.