Bequests 

General Information about Item:

Genre: Sports Tradition – Passing-of-the-Torch Tradition

Language: English

Country of Origin: United States

 

Informant Data:

Andrew Skow is a 21 year old male born in San Francisco, California. He was raised in San Francisco and London, England. He has played rugby for eight years of his life and has been on the Dartmouth Rugby Football Club (DRFC) for the past three years. He is a Junior at Dartmouth College, and in addition to playing rugby he is involved in the Rude Mechanicals theatre group, he is the house manager of Theta Delta Chi, and does engineering research on campus. He first encountered this tradition in the spring of 201 at Corey Ford Rugby Clubhouse. 

 

Contextual Data:

Social Context: The following tradition occurs at the end of every rugby season. The tradition is led by the seniors, and the whole team is in attendance (players, not coaches). Since the building of the Corey Ford Rugby Clubhouse, it always takes place there. 

 

Item:

Over the years, the DRFC has acquired a great number of sentimental/interesting/funny rugby paraphernalia, and there tend to be a lot of stories that go with these items. At Bequests, the seniors get to hand out the bequests that have been given to them and pass them on to younger members of the team. Different bequests have different meanings, as certain bequests are designated to go to the captains, co-captains, president of the club, etc. The order in which seniors pass out bequests is hierarchical, starting with non-executive members of the team and finishing with the captain. Through the passing on of items and their accompanying stories, this tradition serves as a way to pass on the history of the DRFC. Additionally, the tradition honors the seniors for the time they spent with the team as after they are done passing out bequests they have the opportunity to give a speech about what the DRFC meant to them. 

Collector: Robert Hopkins

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Jersey Presentation

General Information about Item:

• Customary Folklore: Sports Custom
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: United States
• Informant: Chris Wilford
• Date Collected: May 19, 2020

Informant Data:

Chris Wilford grew up in Downers Grove, Illinois and has lived there his entire life. He is 21 years old and is of English, Swedish and German descent. Chris has played rugby for 3 years, all of which have been at Dartmouth. He also played baseball, football and ran track while growing up. At Dartmouth, he is a member of the Rugby team, the Risk Manager for Phi Delta Alpha fraternity and a member of ROTC.

Contextual Data:

Social Context:

When Chris was a first-year, he tried out for and made the Rugby team. He quickly learned that the team had many traditions, including a pre-game ritual. Before each game, the players gather in the Rugby field house, which acts as the “home” for the team. Although the starters are normally named before any kind of sports game, this tradition went further than that. Chris loves this tradition because it made him realize why he was on the team and made him truly feel like he was a part of the team.

Cultural Context:

College rugby teams either play games with seven or fifteen players in a game. In addition, for college sports, it is common for the coaches or leaders announce the starting lineup to their teams to get them excited. The Dartmouth Rugby team is a very skilled team, and although labeled “club”, competes at a very high level and takes the sport very seriously.

 

Item:

The day before each Dartmouth Rugby home game, the team gathers in the clubhouse. The jerseys of the starting players are laid out and each starting player is announced by the captain, and the announcement is followed by two quick claps from all the of players. After the whole starting lineup is announced, a senior, or a player who has something special to share, gives a speech to the team. This speech usually centers around what the Dartmouth Rugby team means to them and why they feel that their group of players is special.

 

Collector: Jack Mascali