Many sports teams carry traditions with them to make their time together more interesting and bond them as a whole. A tradition is an inherited, established, or customary pattern of a way of thinking, behaving, or doing something that has been used by the people in a particular group. At Steinbrenner, many of our teams have different traditions that they participate in together, whether it’s just a goofy custom that they started for fun, or a serious tradition that they have carried with them for years.
Junior Soccer player, Sarah Houssian said, “This year we started a new tradition of doing paper plate awards. They’re quirky little awards about different things about people. I got the angry driver award because apparently I’m an angry driver according to my team. And our coach usually gives us little quotes at the beginning of the game, they’re little motivational sentences that you stick in your sock. We also do Secret Santa during Christmas time.”
Along with meaningful quotes that the players hold onto throughout the game, traditions can determine how well a team blends together and meshes within that game.
Besides the quirky things like Secret Santa, some teams bond over food. Senior Cross Country runner, Ian Campbell said, “We try to hold up some traditions, like sometimes before a meet we all get together and try to get dinner the night before, we always try to better, not only ourselves, but our teammates as well to help us achieve our goals as a team.”
Within select traditions, there is also motive. In order to keep those traditions, there must be some form of motivation holding you to them.
Junior Lacrosse player, Lauren Ransdell said, “We like to eat skittles and PDQ before our games. We also have a Spirit Stick that we give out to a different player each week who did well in the previous game. Our most known tradition is taking game day jumping pictures as a team.”
Different types of objects, such as the Spirit Stick, that can get players looking forward to the next game are a great way to boost confidence and cause players to work harder towards their set goals. It brings the team together and pushes initiative into hopeful players.
Flag Football player, Briana Gonzalez said, “We have a pregame prayer and when we win at home, we do a “Our House” chant. Also, before each game, Mary Katherine always writes ‘motivational quotes’ on the board, and Puskas gives everyone nicknames like MK is ‘MK ‘The Mountain’ Miller.”
Others have different, more unique traditions. Sophomore track runner, Jackson Miller said, “We play Ultimate Frisbee and everybody kind of just sweats and runs and does workouts together. Shared pain is initiation. It just works.” Some teams are different than others, depending on the dynamic and initiative each person has, varies on the type of traditions they hold.
Senior Baseball player, Nick Alessi said, “We like to pray as a team right before the game starts and we use the word skiboe for everything.”
Another fun and exciting tradition is having the fans get involved. With the baseball team, it is known that they use the word skiboe in their everyday vocabulary. Nobody quite knows what it means or what it stands for but it sure does rile the team and the fans up. It gives everybody hope and determination to win the next game and keep advancing on in the brackets.
Alessi said, “As a team, we get better each week, we all gain confidence from each other to do our separate jobs which makes us really dangerous as a team. This team has the best chemistry on a baseball team that I have ever been apart of . We all get along and we just try to stay loose and have fun all the time. In the dugouts, we cheer each other on as a team because that gives everyone confidence.”
Houssian said, “Team traditions help to bring the team closer and it bonds us a little better, since the age group is so different because we have only a varsity team, it helps everyone get to know everyone, especially with the Secret Santa you get to know their likes and their dislikes and you’re always paired up with someone in a different grade than you so it kind of forces you to get to know other people.”
Traditions not only bring teams together through fun and interesting customs, but they also help the players look forward to competing together as not only a team, but as a family who grows closer together week by week.
Kayleigh Haight // Staff Writer
