The Superfan, Cameron Hughes and why fans get so fanatical
There are a lot of people in the world who love sports. Then there are some who take their love of the game to the next level, the superfans. A superfan is a sports fan that is a little bit more boisterous, a little bit louder and a little bit more fanatical
than the rest.
Some of them can get very annoying and some can become violent at times, but the usual superfan is just someone, who takes their love of sport to a peaceful yet loud level. One of the biggest superfans has to be Cameron Hughes and he takes his love of the
game to a high. An interesting question is why are there superfans and what makes them so fanatical?
Cameron Hughes was born in 1971 and was like any other young kid in Canada. But as he grew older, he discovered that he had a much stronger love for sports than a lot of his friends or family members.
14 years ago Hughes was sitting in the crowd of a particularly boring ice hockey game and he decided to give something a try. He stood up and started to dance and shout to try to work the crowd and get them excited. The crowd loved him and Hughes had found
his calling.
Soon he started to re-enact the dance and shout routine at many other sports arenas and events and he became a huge hit with other fans. Soon sports teams started to see his potential and have begun to hire him to be their official in-crowd cheerleader.
There is something about the man that translates very well with fans; he is extremely likeable, is hugely entertaining and has the ability to get people motivated behind their team.
Over time other sports teams and organisations started to see his potential and he now makes a living doing what he does. He was hired for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics to encourage fans to cheer for teams and attend hockey games.
He has a routine where he donates free t-shirts to fans in the crowd and he does it by wearing 15 to 20 of them and then stripping them off one by one and tossing them to people. A lot of fans have said that they would rather see Hughes perform than the
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleading squad, which is made up of very beautiful women.
He must be doing something right if he can make a living getting paid to attend hockey games and is more popular than a squad of beautiful young women. He is a neutral supporter though, he supports all teams equally and does not have a favourite. He is a
true superfan in every sense of the word.
What makes a person a superfan? Studies have shown that one of the reasons that people become so fanatical about sports teams is because of the social identity theory. This theory relates to the fact that people feel better about themselves if they have
high self esteem and are more productive and happy individuals as a result of it.
They can achieve high self esteem by associating with a sports team and when that team wins, they experience increased feelings of confidence and joy. This is a reason why many people are so strongly attached to a team; it becomes a part of them and a part
of their social identity. A team may also start to become like a child to them; they have to love it no matter what it does and whether it wins or loses. Like a child if someone insults the team they love, things can get heated very quickly.
At the end of the day, the extremely fanatical sports fans, who take part in destructive behaviour and hooliganism, are few and far between. The average superfan is more concerned about having a good time and showing off their love of the team while not
harming anyone.
With sports becoming more and more popular all over the world and many more sporting events taking place, we will see an increase in the number of superfans all around. It can be a very good thing for a team to have a couple of diehard fans, who support
them no matter what. It can boost morale and help other fans to support the team as well.
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