BENDIGO’S fledgling American Football club hopes the incredible public response to its first home game becomes the launching pad for future success.
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It’s estimated more than 2000 people braved the wet weather to watch the Bendigo Dragons’ first-ever Gridiron Victoria win at the Tom Flood Sports Centre on Saturday night.
It was one of just two home games negotiated with the City of Greater Bendigo to be played at the venue this season.
“I just hope that from that turnout the council can go ‘this is the real deal and they deserve to be there’,” Dragons vice-president Dave Barker said.
“It’s hard to take that sort of crowd out to Shadforth Park or Maiden Gully Oval.
“If the weather’s good we could pull double that. If that’s the starting point and we can build off that, that’s amazing.”
Most GV games usually attract just a few hundred people.
“That crowd was definitely as big, if not better, than their grand final,” Mr Barker said.
The big crowd certainly caught mobile caterer Just Pizza Bendigo by surprise.
“It was incredible,” said business owner Ian Schilling. “I don’t know how we handled it, but we did.”
The family business sold 211 pizzas and had its ovens cooking non-stop – except for a stressful two minutes when the power went out.
“When we first got there when it was raining we thought it was going to be a dud, then it just hit,” Mr Schilling said.
The Dragons didn’t charge entry to its game, but the big crowd could still boost the club’s finances.
Bendigo plans to field an under-18s team in September and is looking for sponsors.
“What was exciting for us was the amount of interest in the game,” treasurer Dennis Barnett said.
The Dragons will subsidise junior players if it gets enough sponsorship.
Start-up costs can push $1000 for players.
“I can’t stress enough how thankful we are for the sponsors we’ve already got,” Mr Barnett said.
Interested sponsors can contact Mr Barnett on 0408 484 743.
The Dragons’ next home game is on Saturday, June 22, from 7pm.?