By Clay Smith

Have you ever sat and wondered why people support the sporting teams that they do?

If you were to ask a few friends who they support and why I bet you would be amazed at some of the responses.

While most Bermudians have local teams they support, many can be seen in pubs across the island, tuned into English and Spanish football or international cricket supporting their teams.

What is it that attracts people to different teams? Is it the colours they wear, their style of play, their professionalism, particular players they like, the history of the club, the location or, simply, just because?

In Bermuda, we have football and cricket as our national sports. It is relatively easy to see why people support the teams they do domestically. The majority of the time it’s because of location or family history.

For example, my friend Dean Minors, better known as “Kung Fu”, was born and raised in St George’s. He lives a stone’s throw away from St George’s Cricket Club, therefore it was relatively evident which club he would spend most of his life playing for.

Then you have my brother-in-law, Ralph Bean Jr, who was brought up in a North Village household and whose father, Ralph “Gumbo” Bean, is a Village legend. It was only natural for Ralph Jr to support and play for Village.

This is the norm in Bermuda for most.

So how about oversees football and cricket where a vast amount of Bermudians, young and old, black and white, male or female, support various clubs?

Speaking from my own personal experience, growing up watching Big League Soccer in Bermuda, I was attracted to Manchester United a lot, simply because my favourite player was Bryan Robson.

When it came to cricket, my brother, Wendell, took me to England at the age of 13, to Alf Gover’s Cricket School in London. When I walked in, they had photographs of all the Test players that had been coached there, and to my amazement I saw one of the great Vivian Richards.

So having seen Viv’s photograph, along with the country’s professionalism, convinced me that there was no other team in the world I would want to support but England.

In an effort to seek various opinions on why people support the teams they do, I asked a few of my friends.

Ryan Steede (former Bermuda cricketer): I am a big Liverpool fan. Growing up, Ian Rush, Bruce Grobbelaar, Steve Staunton and John Barnes were my favourite players, but I was an Ian Rush freak. Since which I have stuck by them through thick and thin.

Lorenzo Tucker (Bermudian cricket analyst): My favourite team is West Indies. I used to love watching Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose, Brian Lara, Carl Hooper, Richie Richardson dominate cricket for as long as they did.

To display that consistency for so long was amazing. They have now fallen from the upper ranks, so it is intriguing to see when they will turn it all around and return to the super-power status they once held.

Ainsley Noel (former college team-mate): I love Barcelona because they play the best football in the world, with the highest level of skill, creativity, speed, excitement and enthusiasm. They keep the ball like no other team and their passing game is sublime. I’ve liked them since the days of Romario and Hristo Stoichkov.

As you can see, people support teams for various reasons. One common reason is because of a favourite player or players.

Could this be the reason why there are so many Barcelona and Real Madrid supporters surfacing all of a sudden in Bermuda?

One close friend of mine supported Arsenal because his favourite player was Thierry Henry, but when he left he stopped supporting them and became a Chelsea fan. Need I say any more?

Supporting a team to some is just a pastime, but to others — the more sincere, diehard supporters — it means a lot.

You have people who have their team’s name or crest tattooed to their body. Some fly to England or down to the West Indies just to see their side play.

It may sound crazy, but there is passion and love for sports in Bermuda and we have to find ways to use sports to help heal some of our wounds as a country.