As fans anxiously await the start of the game, the Varsity girls Volleyball team circle around each other to begin their cheer, “Give me a K. K, you got your K; you got your K.” The crowd then joins in spelling out “knights”. This is the start to the Volleyball players pregame ritual that they preform at every game.

“When you do [a pregame ritual] and it has a positive outcome, then it establishes it, but if the outcome is negative we won’t do it again,” coach Yuede said.

The team has several pregame rituals that are a must before every game. They start with a routine warm-up, and then shout their cheer. After that, they all grab a piece gum and each individual must chew the same color gum every game. This is followed by performing a series of handshakes, and finally they throw their gum to a certain person. These rituals have become a tradition for the girls.

“The traditions have gone on for so long that I don’t really know where they started. The handshakes just kind of happen, and the bubblegum is kind of our good luck charm. Without it feels like some things off,” outside hitter Nicole Yuede said.

According to Nicole Yuede, these superstitions create a sense of routine and control for the team. Aside from pregame rituals, the girls wear the same apparel over and over again, like the same sweat suit or a certain headband. They believe that washing their knee-pads will bring them bad luck. Also, there are past games and incidents they can never talk about for fear of bad luck. All of these rituals and superstitions have become second nature to the girls.

“I feel like it’s tradition, and if we don’t do the tradition it will throw us off our game,” setter Maddie Eiffert said.

In addition to the players’ rituals, coach Yuede abides by her own superstitions. She always has her foot on the 10 foot line during games and the first seat in the lineup belongs to her. She also experiments with different color shirts to see if they have an effect on the game. If the team wins a game, then that color shirt can be worn
again, but if not, then she can’t wear it.

“I had a favorite shirt that we lost a game with, and I refused to wear it until I knew we were playing a team we could beat,” coach Yuede said.

Some of the fans have their own ritual that they perform for the Volleyball girls. A group of guys known as the “Scream Team” dress up in crazy outfits, cheer-on the team and get the crowd pumped during the game. Scream Team member Tyler Stevenson loves cheering for the Volleyball team and enjoys watching the girls’ different rituals.

“The chewing gum thing is cool, I wish we did it for baseball,” Stevenson said.

For the Varsity team, superstitions help them focus and build confidence. Mist superstitions start after an athlete endures a good or bad experience, then they will try and put reasoning as to why something happened. Psychology plays a big part, for if an athlete believes a superstition will help them, then chances are it will.

The power of superstitions has undoubtedly changed the way these girls think. They believe that performing these rituals will allow them to achieve victory.