From wearing lucky socks to eating their favorite meal before a game, superstitions and pre-game rituals have become necessary in every athlete’s life. Sports routines help athletes regain their mental edge before their game or competition. Every sport has different rituals that the team may follow and many may have their own practices of their own.
Younger athletes may have to get used to the superstitions that the upperclassmen follow before games such as not stepping on the logo in the locker room. “We don’t split poles in doors, so if you’re walking past a pole, you cannot split it, you have to go on the same side of the pole. We’re super superstitious about that,” sophomore Harper Stevenson-Shimek said.
Pregame Starbucks run, braid my hair, go on my phone, make some Tik Toks, then game plan
— Hannah Miller
Superstitions and pre-game routines aren’t just before the game; some routines happen throughout the whole day. “Pregame Starbucks run, braid my hair, go on my phone, make some Tik Toks, then game plan,” sophomore Hannah Miller said.
Meals before a game are an extremely important part of an athlete’s pre-game routine and how they later perform. Eating the right foods can drastically impact an athlete’s performance in the game. “Definitely eating the right meal…I like to eat pasta for games a lot because it’s good fuel, but if I eat bad, I lose confidence because I’m gonna play bad then,” Stevenson-Shimek said.
Whether they may seem important or not superstitions and routines are very important to athletes. “I wear this necklace [for games] that my grandma got for me. It’s a pin but I put it on like a necklace. It’s just figure skate because she used to figure skate. It was a pin and she would pin it to her shirt for competitions,” senior Lizzy Hamel said.