On Monday night, Ronan hosted their second annual throwback night at the boys’ basketball game against Loyola. The game was played in the old Ronan gym, both teams wore old jerseys, and fans got in for a dollar if they wore throwback gear. Even the music followed the throwback trend.

Courtney Fisher, the Athletic Director in Ronan, started the event when she became the AD last year. While the event is for fun, Fisher has other motives for the event.

When taking in the Ronan Event Center, one can’t help but be impressed with how big and nice the building is. So with a great place like the Events Center, Fisher wants to know – why doesn’t Ronan have a larger fan base?

She wondered what some of the possible issues are. “I want to get our community more involved in athletics, so I thought, what are the reasons that we don’t have fans at our gym? Is it money? Is it not having winning seasons? Is it lack of knowledge of when our games are?

All of those may be issues, but Fisher went further, trying to come up with something to get more people interested in coming to basketball games. “The first thing I thought was maybe money. So I thought maybe I should give cheaper tickets for someone who wears old school gear,” she said. With that, the throwback game was born.

On Monday night, there was a smattering of throwback gear throughout the old gym, but in only it’s second year, the event is still catching on.

The boys’ team tried their best to wear throwback uniforms, but unfortunately most of the old uniforms are gone. However, with the help of coach Steve Woll, the boys managed to find some older apparel.

A lot of people helped to make the night happen, including cheerleading coach Tawna Steele-Pule, who found old uniforms for the cheerleaders and played the music. “She has been nothing but awesome,” Fisher said, “She’s totally all about the school camaraderie.” Fisher also said the administration has been great. “They are so supportive and have great ideas,” she said.

Looking at the stands in the gym on Monday, not a ton of people were even wearing Ronan gear. Fisher wants to address that as well. “Maybe next year people will get in cheaper for wearing an orange or black shirt too.”

While the event is still in the early stages, Fisher will continue to work to get fans into their games and make the throwback night bigger and better. “Next year I want the coaches to dress in throwback clothes too,” she said, “If you bring the energy here, the kids will see that and have more energy and want to do well. They need that from the community.”