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Students share their unique superstitious rituals before sporting events
By: Alena Blumberg & Olivia Shaieb
Freestyle swimmer Grace McClellan yawns on the block. Power forward Heidi Fuchs makes sure to wear the correct color spandex. Football player Doug McComas listens to “King Von.” Despite playing different sports at DHS, all three athletes have a superstition they religiously follow. A superstition is the excessive belief that an athlete has to perform specific actions before a sporting event, or even wear certain clothing while performing. The superstitions cause an unjustifiable belief that the actions we take are supposed to cause a positive performance, which can be referred to as a “supernatural causation.” If we don’t take this set of actions, or wear a certain piece of clothing, or listen to specific music, our performance will be negatively affected, and we’ll go home disappointed because we forgot to wear our lucky socks. Based on a Squall survey of more than 300 students, around 100 student-athletes at DHS, including those three mentioned above, have superstitions and perform a set of actions before a sporting event. Every. Single. Time.
Kendall Cabana – Junior, Basketball and Soccer
The very first thing Cabana does immediately before warm-ups with her basketball team is to “use the bathroom.” She feels like she will “play bad” if she doesn’t go to the bathroom because she “will be just thinking about it” the whole game. Cabana makes sure that she uses the bathroom at the same time every single game. This superstition started during her freshmen year due to “bad anxiety during school and school sports.” Using the bathroom beforehand gives her reassurance that she will play well because it gets her locked in and focused.
Addison Streetman – Junior, Cross Country and Basketball
Streetman is in her third year on the Dexter women’s basketball team and also runs cross country. She has a few superstitions before taking on the court or running through the hills. She has to wear the “same socks and bow” and wears “braids in a ponytail” at every single sporting event. This superstition started during her freshmen year when she played very well, so ultimately she decided to continue this tradition. One time she forgot to wear the exact socks and hairstyle, and claimed it was “the worst day of my
life.” To ensure this doesn’t happen again, she keeps track of her hair tie and her bow in a “special little box.” The box only holds the two items so they won’t be lost again, demonstrating the idea that student-athletes will do anything it takes to keep their superstitions alive.
Doug McComas – Freshman, Football
In order to “amp” himself up before a big game, McComas likes to “listen to hype music.” He specifically likes to listen to “King Von.” Before the first game of the season this year, he listened to this artist and ever since, he continues to do this every game. This originated during the first game of his high school football season, and during that game, he “scored a touchdown”. Since then, he has listened to this music believing that good things come out of it.
Grace McClellan – Junior, Swim
One of the most important things McClellan does at a swim meet before the clock starts ticking is “Yawn.” During one of her meets freshman year, her coach told her she needed to relax. The only thing she could think of was to yawn, and ever since then, it has been mandatory for her to yawn every time on the starting block, moments before she dives into the pool. Luckily for her, she has never forgotten to do it. She says she is very “consistent” in making this yawn occur even if she isn’t tired. McClellan hasn’t missed a single yawn during a meet, as she is terrified of what could happen if she didn’t yawn.
Heidi Fuchs – Senior, Basketball
Fuchs is a key player on the Dexter women’s basketball team because she is a post guard. One of her superstitions revolves around the color of spandex she has to wear under her uniform shorts. For home games she wears gray spandex, and for away games she wears black. She began this at the beginning of her junior season. After continually wearing spandex under her shorts, she has felt more confident in her playing, so she always remembers to wear these spandex. During one game she forgot to bring the correct color of spandex and, in her opinion, she thought she “could have done better” if she had the correct clothes.
