Before every game, there’s more going on than just warm-ups and drills. From pulling on the same lucky socks to listening to blasting a specific song on repeat, student-athletes often lean on superstitions to calm their nerves and boost their confidence. These routines may seem trivial to outsiders, but for athletes, they can feel just as important as practice itself.
Joey Dresch
Freshman Joey Dresch plays baseball and sticks to a superstition about the order he puts on his shoes. “I’ll always put on my right shoe and tie it before my left,” he said. Dresch has followed this routine for as long as he can remember, believing it brings him good luck. As he prepares for his first season representing M-A, Dresch plans to carry on the tradition.
Kayla Romeyn
Freshman Kayla Romeyn, who plays soccer and lacrosse, has her own pregame superstition when it comes to away games: music. “The specific song I mostly listen to is definitely ‘Baby’ by Justin Bieber,” Romeyn said.
For home games, Romeyn opts for prayers instead. “If it’s a home game and I don’t need to get in the car, I pray to God,” Romeyn said. Romeyn began doing this before her first soccer game and believes it helps her perform well.
Justice Toilolo
Freshman Justice Toilolo believes that sticking to the same pregame routine helps him perform better and contribute to his team’s success. “It would be using the bathroom pre-game every time,” Toilolo said. Toilolo started this superstition after his team’s first loss and credits it with turning things around. “After our first win of me doing that superstition, we started to win more,” Toilolo said. He will continue his bathroom stops indefinitely to ensure the team’s success.
Isiah Mora
Freshman Isaiah Mora plays football and has a ritual of putting his headphones on noise cancellation mode and basking in silence. “I listen to nothing, gotta get in the right state of mind,” Mora said. Mora started this superstition when he got new headphones for Christmas. “Now every time before a game I gotta use my headphones,” Mora said.
Milo Lazare
Junior Milo Lazare plays football, believing that meditation before games helps him perform better. “A meditation sesh is good for getting ready before a game,” Lazare said. Lazare started this routine when he was ten years old and has been doing it before every game since.
Anja Motuliki
Senior Anja Motuliki, who plays rugby, has a simple yet meaningful pregame superstition: prayer. “I pray, that’s it, pray and go on about my day,” Motuliki said. She practices this routine before every game and says it has always been a part of her preparation.
Scarlett Shenk
Senior Scarlett Shenk, who plays water polo, has a superstition of tying the left string of her cap before the right string while getting ready for her game. Shenk started her superstition five years ago, after playing the sport for three years. “A bunch of girls on my team had stuff that they were doing, and I wanted one, so that was mine,” Shenk said.
