SPRINGFIELD FALCONS REACH OUT TO THE LATINO COMMUNITY

By Elizabeth Cardona

Although the names of hockey players Scott Gomez of the New Jersey Devils, Raffi Torres of the Edmonton Oilers, or Al Montoya of the New York Rangers may not be all that familiar to many local Latinos, our hometown hockey team, the Springfield Falcons, is making a great effort to change that and to interest more Latinos in the sport as they reach out to Latino consumers in this region.

At a community holiday party last December, the Falcons provided 20 tickets for youths from the North End in Springfield to attend a Falcon’s game this month. In addition, on Saturday, January 26th in collaboration with the Massachusetts Latino Chamber of Commerce, a business networking opportunity enabled Latino Chamber business members to showcase their products and services. Through a corporate sponsorship, businesses were also able to purchase 10 Falcon tickets at a discounted rate and have a table to market their goods or services.

Christopher Thompson, Manager of Business Development for the Springfield Falcons, said, “ The Springfield Falcons are excited about this partnership and look forward to exposing the Springfield Falcons to the greater Latino community.” These sentiments were also shared by Latino Chamber President, Carlos Gonzalez who said, “While hockey may not be as popular as baseball for Latinos, we are very fortunate to have a great AHL team in our own city and the possibility to create a campaign that targets Latino consumers who are looking for family entertainment and also contribute to the pride in our city.” Part of the evening program was dedicated to recognizing newly-elected Mayor Dominic J. Sarno, City Council President Bud L. Williams and this writer on my appointment to Governor Deval Patrick’s administration.

GO SPRINGFIELD FALCONS!