Title: Katie Spanos

General Information about Item:

• Pre-Performance Folklore – American
• Katie Spanos
• Student, Varsity Field Hockey Team
• English
• Hershey, Pennsylvania
• May 13, 2019

Text:

This pre-performance folklore is a form of hair braiding. Katie first began performing this folklore at Lower Dauphin Middle School in Hummelstown, PA, where she began playing field hockey. She was in the 6th grade when she started playing, so she was around the age of 11 or 12. The older girls on the team would braid each other’s hair before each competition and later they taught the younger girls the braiding technique. The technique is not written down or videotaped, it is passed and taught from year to year orally and taught by example. The girls instruct each other and go through the movements together. She does not know who originally started the style, or how long the team had been doing it before she started playing. This hairstyle was special, and was not worn for practices – only games. Katie Spanos learned this technique from an 8th grade girl before their big Division Championship game. Once Katie became older, she passed the techniques down to the new 6th graders to carry on the tradition. Katie continued braiding her hair this way before competitions in high school, and continues to do it to this day in college as a Division 1 Varsity athlete.

Context:

Katie usually performs this folklore in the locker room of the Dartmouth Field Hockey Team. This locker room is located down the street from our field, alongside the Boss Tennis center on 6 Summer Ct, Hanover, NH 03755. Typically, the locker room will be filled with her teammates beginning to prepare for the game. There is usually some type of motivational/exciting music in the background. Katie will begin to braid her hair about 2 hours before a scheduled competition. The team arrives in the locker room and starts to put on their uniform and equipment at this time. She gets dressed and then heads over to the mirror to braid her hair. After she finishes her own hair, she also braids a few of her teammates hair. Katie plans on teaching her special technique to an underclassman so they can continue this tradition. There are a few other girls on the team who have similar traditions and braid their hair in ways that were taught to them by teammates in middle and high school. This could explain how the folklore has multiple existences and variations. It is common that teams share this, but Katie considers her personal version the most special.

Meaning and Interpretation (Informant):

“I think the braiding is special because it is something I have shared with many teammates that I care about and learned many important lessons from. My interpretation is that it is something that bonds teammates together through a shared experience, and a way to improve my performance. I have had teammates do this before I even entered the sport, and I want to pass on the technique so it continues even after I leave. I use it as a chance to calm myself before a competition and do a meticulous and detailed task to focus myself. It might be a superstitious thing… I am not sure. I thinks it holds significance for the entire team because I’m a leader of the team and want to be as focused and prepared for a game as I can be.

Meaning and Interpretation (Collector):

This folklore could be considered a ritual because it is allowing Katie to make a transition from a typical day-to-day state to a pre competition state. She uses the braiding to bring herself and her teammates focus and energy. It is definitely a piece of folklore because it is oral and was taught by word of mouth and example, the technique was not written down to be taught or shared, there is no known author/they are irrelevant, and it is an unofficial part of the Dartmouth field hockey culture. I do think that this folklore could represent a sign superstition, because she never plays a game without doing her braids. The braids are a sign that she will perform well and we will win the game.

One time our bus got caught in a ton of traffic on the way to the game and we knew we would have to put on our uniforms and equipment on the bus without using a locker room when we arrived to the game. Katie put her things on quickly and used the mirror in the cramped bus bathroom to do her own braids. Afterwards, underclassmen made a line in the middle of the bus aisle so Katie could stand above them and finish their braids before arriving to the game as well. It may not be a superstition because she didn’t mention any consequence of not doing it, but it is likely that she would not be as focused before playing or confident stepping on the field without performing this folklore. As for the ritual itself, I believe it reflects Frazer’s Law of Similarity. Katie is focusing herself and preparing herself and her teammates during the ritual. She hopes that this will result in them being maximally prepared and will play with high intensity during the game.

She is an All-Ivy League player and a Captain of the team, so she needs to be at her best at all times because the team relies on her performance. It is also very significant to the other younger girls’ whose hair she braids because she is passing on an important tradition that she learned and wants them to learn. It is bonding them and getting them focused and ready to compete together.

Collector’s Name: Katie Persin

Tags/Keywords:

• Sports
• Athletics
• Field Hockey
• Pre-Performance Ritual