At first look, Dance Informa looks like the final place to characteristic an article on a summer season collegiate baseball group, however the Savannah Bananas, primarily based in Savannah, Georgia, are greater than a baseball group. Famous for his or her “Banana Ball” in addition to their TikTok movies, Bananaland has captured the hearts of many throughout the nation. The Bananas’ motto is “Fans First. Entertain Always,” and attending a recreation at Grayson Stadium will earn you the prospect to see what some attendees liken to a Broadway present.
Dance Informa had the pleasure of chatting with Zack Frongillo, Savannah Bananas’ director of leisure. Frongillo has a dance and sports activities background and has been concerned within the sports activities leisure world for a number of years. He attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for Dance Performance and Choreography.
An alternative with Vegas’ Golden Knights hockey group launched Frongillo to the sunshine of sports activities leisure which finally led him to the Savannah Bananas. “Sports entertainment is something that not a lot of people think about, because when you go to a sporting event, you obviously are there for the sport, but that’s not necessarily the case here in Bananaland.” Many are intrigued with Banana Ball, however followers know to anticipate a present!
The Bananas have one thing for everybody: “The World’s Slowest Race” that includes crawling toddlers; The Banana Nanas, a senior dance squad; The Man-anas, dad-bod cheerleaders; The Banana Splitz, a pre-teen dance squad; and the latest addition, “Dancing with the Bananas”, a dance competitors that includes six gamers and 6 ballerinas from Savannah Ballet Theatre. Not solely are there alternatives for fan involvement but additionally important participation from the gamers.
The group is consistently brainstorming methods to “Entertain Always.” “Jesse (Bananas’ owner) and I will do idea sessions,” Frongillo says. “We used to generate 10 ideas a day, but that’s changed, and we now have OTT meetings – Over the Top moments – these are the moments throughout the game that really show off what makes us different. We ask, ‘What are people going to see at a baseball game that they’ve never seen before?’… an OTT moment.”
The Savannah Bananas are passionate and motivated to attach with followers and supply particular moments for them within the park. “The big thing for us is we break down the barrier between player and fans,” Frongillo explains. “We have guys who go up in the crowd every game and hand a rose to a little girl. We send players into the crowd to shake military servicemen/veterans’ hands. Everything that we do is very intentional. Also, the buy-in from our guys is unmatched. We have players doing full choreographed dances on the field.”
Merging baseball with choreographed dances is surprising, however the Bananas prioritize selecting the best individuals to affix them. “Our head coach talks all the time about how we’re not looking for the best players on the field; we’re looking for the right people with the right attitudes – great human beings on and off the field,” says Frongillo. “For the pro-team, we have a tryout which includes a TikTok section and dancing section; it’s not all about baseball. It always comes back to looking for the right people, not the best players.”
A baseball tryout incorporating TikTok and dancing wouldn’t make sense to the seasoned baseball fan, however a lot of the Savannah Bananas’ fame has come from their social media presence. When requested which movies stood out to Frongillo, he talked about their 3-2-2 movies. “The 3-2-2 is a moment during Banana Ball, third inning, second batter, second pitch. This moment has got us over 100 million views on TikTok alone – over a couple of different videos. The pitcher, short stop, second baseman and catcher all do a choreographed dance right before a pitch. They do the dance, and then he goes directly into a pitch.”
First Base Coach Maceo Harrison is just not solely coach but additionally choreographer for a lot of the Bananas’ dances. “We have the world’s only and greatest dancing first base coach,” Frongillo shares. “He joined us in 2018, and is fantastic. He dances the third, fourth and seventh inning of every game, and choreographs all the player dances – a staple in our game.”
Dance Informa readers might particularly benefit from the Savannah Bananas’ ballet-dancing first base coach video, starring Frongillo! “One of the more viral videos on our TikTok was the ballet dancing first baseman, and that one was me. Maceo had told us earlier in the year that he couldn’t be at this game. We weren’t able to find a replacement, so I hopped out there. The video went crazy, and that, in turn, brought me back to Savannah Ballet Theatre, and now I’m dancing professionally again.”
The Bananas have struck a chord with individuals of all ages, not simply baseball lovers however most of the people, too. When requested what they credit score for his or her success, Frongillo shares, “It starts at the top. Jesse is with the fans all the time. There’s no other owner in the country who’s so in touch with the fans. We are also a very close front office – our Fans First Director does a great job bringing in people. You could have all the accolades in the world, but if you don’t fit our culture, the ‘Fans First, Entertain Always’ mentality, you’ll never fit in here. It starts there and then it’s living, breathing, always being Fans First.”
From eliminating commercials within the park, to offering $20 all-you-can-eat tickets, to the creation of fast-paced Banana Ball, each determination the Savannah Bananas makes is filtered by their Fans First, Entertain Always mission. And it’s paying off – the ready checklist for tickets is over 60,000 names! For these unable to get tickets, ESPN+ is releasing a six-episode documentary, Bananaland, this summer season.
Next 12 months, the Savannah Bananas World Tour is planning to journey to much more cities to satisfy the excessive demand for Banana Ball. Keep an eye fixed out, as they could play close to you!
Follow the newest Bananas information on social media: @thesavbananas.
By Melody McTier of Dance Informa.
