We all have sports that we know and love to follow. For most of us, we stick to fairly national sports like football, basketball, or baseball. All the teams we support are from this country, which makes it very easy to be a good supporter. We can go to games, watch them on TV, it’s really simple.
But, what if you follow a sport or team from a different country? Plenty of us do it, with soccer especially. A lot of the best soccer teams play over in Europe, so we choose to support one of them and try to follow the big games.
The only problem and this applies to foreign teams in other sports too, is that it’s harder to support them. It’s not as easy to follow their matches thanks to time zones, and we can’t exactly go to matches all the time. Keeping that in mind, I’ve come up with a few ideas to help any sports fans that try to support a foreign team.
Plan Your Day Around Their Match
When your favorite team plays in a different country, it might mean their matches are on really early in the morning, or late at night. Normally, you might be asleep at these times, but you need to change your sleeping pattern if you want to be a good fan. I’m not saying a drastic change needs to be made, just alter your day around the match. If you know they’re playing at 4am, then go to sleep earlier the day before so you can wake up in time. Then, don’t make plans for a few hours after so you can have another little nap to catch up on sleep. It’s such an easy way to ensure you can be a more active fan that doesn’t just learn about the results a few hours after they happen.
Keep Up-To-Date With The Scores
If you can’t watch a match because it’s not being streamed on TV, then you can do the next best thing; follow the score online. It’s really easy to find a website you can check the livescore, and they tend to update as the match is playing. So, when something happens, you’ll know about it right away. If you wanted to, you could even look for an app that notifies you when scores change or when your team is playing. As a fan, the absolute bare minimum you can do is know the scores when your team is in action!
Buy Their Merch
You may be unable to support the team by going to matches, but you can still show them some love by opening your wallet. But their merchandise and show it off to everyone. Buying the kit your team plays in is a great way to establish yourself as a fan and identify with the club. It shows everyone you support them and makes you feel more like a proper fan.
There you have it; a simple guide to supporting a sports team from a different country. It makes sense to show local support, and you can easily do that too. But, if you have a favorite team playing a favorite sport somewhere else, these tips will help you be a better fan of them!