Before every game, junior volleyball captain Mila Haffar slicks back her hair and secures it with her TIY hair tie. She wears her game day earrings and listens to her pre-game playlist to prepare for her match.
“I definitely think [my superstitions] affect how I play,” Haffar said. “It affects how I’m feeling during the game, because suddenly, my mind goes to ‘Oh, I didn’t do this,’ and it affects me mentally.”
Haffar also believes that having a superstition allows her to focus on a game better.
“It grounds me before a game,” Haffar said. “Having some of these superstitions and routines helps me stay calm and get back in the right mindset before I start.”
Like many athletes, Haffar knows her rituals don’t necessarily guarantee a win, but she chooses to stick to her routine.
“I’ve always been super superstitious whenever it comes to volleyball since I started playing club,” Haffar said. “If something goes well, I’ll kind of credit it to whatever I do.”
Wearing her socks and ponytail, freshman cross country runner Virginia Epperson also believes that her superstitions impact her performance.
“I got the socks for the first time and went into practice and ran really fast,” Epperson said. “So, I was like, ‘If I wear these in a meet, I’ll be fast too.’”
If she skips her ritual, Epperson feels as if she will not do as well as if she had done it.
“I think it definitely throws me off a little,” Epperson said. “And it kind of stresses me out.”
Putting her phone down before a game, freshman volleyball player Callie Brooks believes that limiting her screen time will help her play better in a game.
“If I’m on my phone, my head is going to hurt, so I always put it away before I play,” Brooks said.
Realizing that it shifts her focus, Brooks likes to turn off her phone to prevent the interruptions from getting to her head before she starts.
“I feel like it lets me be more locked in on the game because I won’t be as distracted by what’s happening on social media,” Brooks said.
Wearing the same outfit the night before a regatta, sophomore rower Ellison Gonzalez undertakes a special routine prior to races.
“The night before, I wear a specific pair of pink PJs and a pair of All in Motion ankle socks,” Gonzalez said. “I also lay out my uniform with one of my soccer tournament sweatshirts, my Birkenstocks and my Oakleys.”
Her routine continues when she launches at the start of a regatta.
“I slick back my hair into a ponytail with a green and white hair tie on the top side,” Gonzalez said. “I also have this rainbow toy that my best friend and I made when we were younger that I hold for five seconds right before I start rowing, and I always call my dad 20 minutes before my launch.”
Gonzalez has soccer rituals, but said her superstitions increased when she began rowing.
“I think all of my superstitions started last spring when I got really into rowing,” Gonzalez said. “I did all of these things and won, so I kept doing all of these throughout the spring season and kept winning.”
