Men’s Lacrosse (Sumner Erbe)

Title: Men’s Lacrosse Pre-Game

General Information about Item:

• Type of Lore: Video Interview
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: United States
• Informant: Austin Meacham
• Date Collected: May 20th, 2019

Informant Data: Austin Meacham is the class of 2019 at Dartmouth College. He is the current Varsity Men’s Lacrosse captain. Hailing from Connecticut, Austin has played lacrosse for his entire life and was a top recruit after high school. In this way, he is a veteran of the sport and has played on the Varsity team for four years.

Contextual Data:

• Cultural Context: The Dartmouth Men’s lacrosse team is a Varsity team at the College. They play about fifteen games this year and have struggled of late to find success on the field. With these struggles, the team has had to look inward for motivation as external success has been very limited.
• Social Context: In Lacrosse, the team dynamic is important. Many players run on and off the field in “shifts” throughout the game, which delivers and interesting dynamic between the overall team and the players on each shift. The team must be cohesive and have strong communication as the field is quite large and everyone on it must be on the same page and executing the same game plan to find success.

Item: Austin describes a ritual in which the captain gathers the other players in a huddle. The captain is in charge of getting the rest of the team mentally prepared for the game.  The captain tends to focus on talking about the other team’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as the Dartmouth team’s game plan.

Photo of Athlete:

Transcript: Austin described the ritual as being essential for getting the team to be cohesive and together. While players are getting ready, a reminder about who the other team is, their strengths and weaknesses, as well as Dartmouth’s gameplan can serve pivotal in executing well as a team.

Informant’s Comments: Austin mentioned that because of this, the ritual does impact the team’s performance on the field. While the impact is “minimal,” Austin did assure that it provides an important time for the team to come together and get on the same page before the game. The ritual does change over time, though, which each captain using the timing of the ritual as a way to leverage its impacts. Some captains may perform the ritual closer to the game, while some may perform it in the middle of warm ups, for example.

Collector’s Comments: The ritual described by Austin seemed to be quite practical at first. The team needs to meet before games in order to discuss their game plan and the other team’s weaknesses. But, upon further analysis, i think the underlying sense of togetherness that this rituals allows is even more important than the logistics of the meeting itself. If the players, led by the captain, can come together as one unit, the team’s performance will likely be enhanced. It brings the team together in a way that would not occur organically. I think the flexibility of the ritual speaks to this, as well. Because captains can change the timing of this ritual, each captain can adjust the timing based on what he thinks will be most impactful for the team at that time. In this way, the ritual’s customization is an important part of its effectiveness.

Collector’s Name: Sumner Erbe

Tags/Keywords:

• Dartmouth Pre game Rituals
• Men’s Lacrosse
• Performance