Home-field advantage is everyone’s responsibility
GeorgiaForce.com

Directions on how to make your own Thunder Force bucket

If it really is better to be seen and not heard, the Thunder Force is in deep trouble.  These Force fans have become notorious around the league for the racket they create during games by banging on their buckets.   

Unofficial Thunder Force leader, former officer of the Force Fanatics Booster Club (www.forcefanatics.org) and 5-year season ticket holder Dane Booth gets the most satisfaction when he sees visiting teams’ reactions. 

“I’ve had players come by and say everything from ‘geez, that’s loud’ to simply shooting me dirty looks, but the best recognition comes in the form of missed kicks, botched catches off the net and dropped passes.” 

How did it all start?  The bucket banging began late in the 2004 season while the team was at Philips Arena and has carried over to the Arena at Gwinnett Center.  

Booth explains, “I felt that fans needed to show more support for the team during the games…It was too dang quiet.  We had to do something to make home field advantage a true advantage to the team. 

“I had a flash of the guy that beats the drum for the N.Y. Jets.  He always got the crowd excited as they cheered.  I picked up the bucket, turned it over, and rapped my fingers on the bottom.  The sound it made sealed the vision.” 

Booth dreams of the day when “we have thousands of buckets in the Arena,” calling it the “most beautifully deafening sound I ever heard.” 

How do you join the Thunder Force?  It’s easy.  There are no membership charges or annual meetings.  “All you need is a bucket.  We want everybody involved,” says Booth.

Directions on how to make your own Thunder Force bucket