Traditions for good luck have been an important part of sports for many years, tugging on the interests of many athletes.
Sports rituals are routines or items that athletes feel have a positive impact on how they play. Some rituals include wearing the same socks every game or putting clothes on in a certain order. No matter what it is, these superstitions allow the players to feel more confident in themselves as they compete. Men tend to be the most superstitious with 25.30 percent of male athletes having these rituals versus the 20.48 percent of women athletes.
Basketball star Michael Jordan had a superstition with his college shorts, he would wear his UNC shorts underneath his Chicago Bulls shorts every game. This began due to him believing his shorts were lucky since he wore them when UNC won the NCAA Championships in 1982.
Freshman Olivia Tanner has a specific hairstyle that she wears before every soccer game.
“Being the same and not changing it up makes me less stressed so I don’t have to worry about my hair being in the way, and it just feels like if I don’t change it up every day then nothing will change up in the game,” Tanner said.
She changes her hair for every new season and does it the same way until the season ends. She has been doing this since seventh grade.
Sophomore Joey Crawley and her teammates do a “powwow” before every game or color guard performance. She and the team have been doing this for two years in honor of their late guard instructor Samantha Byrd. A “powwow” is where the team circles up for a pre-game meeting and prays over one another so they can have the best results.
Freshman Talin Howell eats a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before every football game,
“It gives me a lot of energy before the game and always gets me in the right mood,” Howell said. He started this tradition when he was around seven years old. His mom started making them and he has kept it in his pre-game routine ever since.
Whether these rituals make a difference or not, the players have decided to use them to their advantage.
