General Information:
Informant: AG
Place: Hanover, NH
Date: November 5, 2021
Genre/Form of folklore: Ritual/Customary
Title: “Fall Camp”

Informant Data: AG is a 19-year-old member of the class of 2025 at Dartmouth College. He is from New Jersey but spends most of the year on the college’s campus in Hanover, NH. He is a student-athlete, a part of the college’s football team as a tight end, and he is interested in studying economics.

Contextual Data: Football teams across the country, whether it is high school, college, or professional teams, spend at least a few weeks before the first game to get prepared with a series of intense practicing. This is referred to as “camp” by almost everyone involved in the sport. At Dartmouth, it is a time when the team is on before most of the campus has arrived and they are all housed in the same building as a group and forced to do everything together.

Social Data: Football players across the country show up to campuses early to prepare for their upcoming season with a few weeks of intense practicing referred to as “camp”.

Item: Each fall, the football team at Dartmouth spends about 25 days before the rest of the student body arrives on campus doing a fall camp. During this camp, players spend roughly 14 hours per day in meetings, lifts, practices, and team meals. It is a major bonding opportunity for the team, as well as a chance to get prepared for a competitive football season.

Transcript:

Collector: “Why did you (or didn’t) participate in the DOC Freshman year trips?”

Informant: “I play on the football team and we had to be at camp, so we missed out on the DOC freshman trips that the rest of our class participated in. We were slightly bummed, but we came here for football and it was important for us to be here and bond with the team, as well as learn our plays and practice to get us ready for the upcoming season. Every player misses the trips, and at the end of the day, we prefer it that way because football is the reason we are here. Camp gives us the chance to meet our teammates and get used to campus before everyone else arrives.”

Collector Comment:
As a member of the football team, our class also experienced its first camp this fall. It was a good preparation period and I enjoyed the bond the team built from being on campus early.

Collected by:

Ross Parrish 20

Cincinnati, OH

Hanover, NH

Dartmouth College

RUSS 013

Fall 2021