Lehigh Valley Steelhawks building a nest in the Valley

March 20--Allentown's PPL Center was packed for the District 11 high school basketball semifinals on March 1 and it was packed again for country group Florida Georgia Line on Thursday night.

And, the downtown arena is filled for most Phantoms ice hockey games.

It wasn't packed late Sunday afternoon when the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks kicked off their 2017 season against the Dayton Wolfpack.

A crowd officials estimated at just under 4,000 saw at least a part of the Steelhawks' 66-25 National Arena League win.

However, this is one case where attendance figures aren't the sole measure of a franchise's success or failure.

The several thousand fans the Steelhawks get for their games generally keep coming back week after week and season after season.

They like seeing the hard-hitting action in an intimate setting. They like the contests and all the other bells and whistles that go on during timeouts. They like the halftime shows like the one delivered by Liberty High's renowned Grenadier Band on Sunday. And they like heckling opposing players like Dayton placekicker Jim Terry, who seemed to be a leftover from Saturday's WWE wrestling show and was more interested in provoking the crowd than kicking the ball.

Most of all, the fans like bringing kids on to the field to get autographs and take pictures with the players once the game is over. Even 20 minutes after the game ended early Sunday night, fans were still coming down the steps leading from the concourse to the field.

It doesn't matter that the Steelhawks aren't the Eagles or Penn State. The kids on the receiving end of the autographs are just as wide-eyed on the photographs.

The mere fact that this is the Steelhawks' seventh season of operation overall and third year at PPL Center, makes them a success story, especially when you look around and see all the franchises that have come and gone since the team played its first home game on March 19, 2011, at Lehigh's Stabler Arena.

Six years later on Sunday, the Steelhawks were still doing their thing and even with the weather finally showing signs of improvement and virtually all of college basketball's blue bloods playing tournament games, a couple of thousand people still showed up to watch football.

"There's a lot to be said about that," head coach and assistant GM Chris Thompson said.

Thompson's primary focus is putting a quality team together and winning games, but he also knows the franchise's future depends much more on making people happy and producing new fans.

That's why he was just as happy with the number of young ladies who attended a dance clinic in the morning or a youth football skills clinic in the afternoon as he was with the 66 points his team scored.

Thompson is also excited about the Steelhawks youth football league that will feature 10 teams and 190 kids after starting with just four teams three years ago.

"It's all about building a family atmosphere," said Thompson, who is now in his sixth season in the Lehigh Valley after spending six as a player, coach and assistant GM in Reading. "Every great team starts with great ownership and the Clark family is first class. They allow us to make our own mistakes and gives us a free reign to do things that will see us grow."

Steelhawks owner Glenn Clark runs an insurance business in West Chester, but became familiar with the area as a student at East Stroudsburg University.

"When I started this team, my son Mike was a sports management major and he couldn't get a job," Glenn Clark said. "But he worked for this league and he talked me into buying a franchise. So, it was more of a lark that led me into this, but we said we're big football fans ... let's see if this thing can work."

Clark said a lot of mistakes were made in the first year and the team had to shake the stigma left by the area's previous indoor pro team, the Lehigh Valley Outlawz.

Once they distinguished themselves as a different franchise, the Steelhawks forged positive relationships around the community and built a treasure trove of sponsors.

Getting Thompson from Reading in the second year was a major plus. So was the growth of Mike Clark as the team's executive vice president and general manager. He was just 23 years old when the team began.

"Thanks to Mike and Lauren Petri [director of operations] we've become a fine-tuned machine," Thompson said.

The Steelhawks are hoping that the new league, the National Arena League, will be a better fit and provide stability.

"We really enjoy the Lehigh Valley and enjoy the people here," Glenn Clark said. "Mike has lived here for six years now and loves it. This is home. People have a good time when they come out to these games and the PPL Center is a great partner for us. We're not going anywhere any time soon."

STEELHAWKS 66, DAYTON 25

Highlights

Lehigh Valley pulled away from a tight 21-18 game in the second quarter by outscoring Dayton 45-7. The Steelhawks had five takeaways, including three interceptions, and returned a kickoff for a score and had another kick return go to the Dayton 1. Warren Smith Jr. was 7-for-7 for 126 yards and four touchdowns. Darius Prince caught five passes for 85 yards and three TDs. Warren Oliver had three receptions for 62 yards and a TD. Joe Koonce led the defense with 12 tackles, including 2.5 for losses.

What's next

The Steelhawks play the High Country Grizzlies in Boone, N.C., on Saturday and then visit the Jacksonville Sharks on April 1 before returning home for a 5 p.m. home game on April 9 against the Columbus (Ga.) Lions.

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