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Introduction

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Given the members of our group consist of three Dartmouth women’s ice hockey players, we thought it would be very interesting to learn about how folklore is both similar and different amongst our main competitors, other Ivy League women’s ice hockey teams. Dartmouth in particular has many rituals and superstitions that occur before games. These traditions have developed over time and continue on each year, as they have been passed down from past players to current players. As we took a closer look into each 2021-22 Ivy League hockey teams and the individual players on them, we analyzed their superstitions to see if there were common tendencies with their game day routines. 

For this collection project we interviewed 12 women (at least one from each Ivy League Women’s Hockey team). We interviewed them over FaceTime to create an open and casual environment so each informant would be comfortable sharing their individual and team superstitions. These informants ranged from freshman-seniors in college. From these 12 informants, we were able to gather 18 different items of folklore.

We tried to get a range of perspectives from each hockey team, and each person we talked to provided a new view on the way we look at superstitions and how we interpret them – specifically amongst the women’s ivy league ice hockey teams.

Conclusion

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Throughout this collection project we identified some similarities and differences among individual and team superstitions throughout our opponents in the Ivy League.  One of the similarities was that most of these superstitions were categorized by magic superstitions, which are based on cause and effect, and also containing cultural and social contexts. The second similarity that we found was that most team chants are passed down each year. Team chants were one of the most common team superstitions amongst the people we interviewed. Chants are a big part of team camaraderie and are a way to make sure every player heads into the game with high positive energy. Teams believe that if they all routinely chant together, they will enter the game strong and play well. There were many differences among individual player’s superstitions and these were inherited from others who came before the players, which have been passed down for generations. 

As we learned in class – everyone is the folk. All of the people we interviewed are the folk as they have their own folklore and share that folklore with others around them. Another main theme that we gathered is that most of the superstitions we collected were a result of a specific event that happened to the informant… for example, they broke a stick and had to use their backup with a bad tape job, which resulted in them playing badly, and they looked up to a teammate for guidance for an action to perform in order to play well.

Yale Superstitions

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Title: Yale Superstitions – Addie Burton

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Lore, Magic Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Addie Burton
  • Date Collected: 11/08/21

Informant Data:

  • Addie Burton is a 19 year old female from Orono, MN. She is a female student-athlete in the class of 2024. She went to a private school in Minnesota before going to the University of Minnesota, which she transferred from this year to attend Yale. At Yale she is on the women’s ice hockey team and is in an acapella group.  She has 2 superstitions that she follows strictly before games.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: The cultural context is that putting on gear in a specific order is common amongst hockey players, and re-taping your stick is a very common action that hockey players perform before games. 
  • Social Context: The social context is interacting with people who also re-tape their sticks before games, and interacting with others who put a certain side of their gear on before the other side.
  • The magic substance in the superstition about taping her stick is stick tape. 

Item:

  • This item is a customary type of folklore under the genre of magic superstition. Addie performs these before each home game. 

Transcript:

  • “I re-tape my hockey stick and put the blade in the air so it does not touch the ground until game time, and when I get dressed I put my right skate on before my left.”  

Informant’s Comments:

  • Addie described the feeling of dread and disdain if her stick touched the ground after she re-taped it, needing it to stay in the air in order to play well. She 

Collector’s Comments:

  • I was very intrigued by Addie’s superstitions because while some of her superstitions are common amongst most players, she has a spin on them such as keeping her newly taped stick in the air, something she told me she started doing after watching her older teammates do it. 

Collector’s Name: Currie Putrah 

Dartmouth Superstitions

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Title: Dartmouth Superstitions – Lotti Odnoga

General Information about Item: 

  • Customary Lore, Magic Superstition 
  • Language: English 
  • Country of Origin: Hungary 
  • Informant: Lotti Odnoga
  • Date Collected: 11/16/21

Informant Data:

Lotti Odnogais a 22 years old senior defenseman on the Dartmouth Women’s Ice Hockey team and also plays for the Hungarian National Team. She was born in Gyor, Hungary on January 19, 1999, she went to play for Vermont Academy in Vermont in her sophomore year and has been living in the US since then. 

Contextual Data: 

  • Cultural Context: The cultural context in Lotti’s superstitions is that many players among the Ivy league schools put their gear on in a certain order or listen to music before a game to get them ready to play.
  • Social Context: The social context of Lotti’s superstition is that when she rings the bell she sends the whole team off to have a good game. If she doesn’t ring the bell it results in a bad start therefore a bad game for her team. 

Item: Putting on her gear in a specific order and listening to the same songs is a customary type of folklore that falls under the genre of  magic superstition. Lotti performs her rituals before every game.

Transcript: “I have to listen to the same three songs before every game. Those songs get me dialed into the game. If I don’t listen to them my thoughts are all over the place and I can’t focus on the game and therefore my performance will be bad. The only superstition I have when I am getting dressed is that I have to tie my left skates before my right and then I have to step on the ice with my left feet first. A tradition that was passed down to me from a previous DWIH player is that before we step on the ice for the first time in a game I have to ring the bell that is on the way to the rink from our locker room. I am not really sure when this tradition has started, but I am pretty sure it has been more than 10 years. This superstition sends the team on the ice with good luck and to have a great game.”

Collector’s Name: Lotti Odnoga 

Dartmouth Superstitions

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Title: Dartmouth Superstitions – Gabby Billing

General Information about Item: 

  • Customary Lore, Magic Superstition 
  • Language: English 
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Gabby Billing 
  • Date Collected: 11/14/21

Informant Data:

  • Gabby Billing was born in Fergus Falls, Minnesota on October 18, 1999, however, she has lived in Corcoran, Minnesota her entire life. She is currently a senior on the Dartmouth Women’s Ice Hockey team and therefore a member of the graduating class of 2022. 

Contextual Data: 

  • Cultural Context: The cultural context is that putting on gear in a particular way is a common superstition among many hockey players in many different leagues and cultures. 
  • Social Context: The social context is that Gabby shares this superstition with some of her teammates. The magic portion of the superstition is that if she does not put her gear on properly she will play poorly. 

Item: This is a form of magic superstition which is a genre of customary folklore. 

Transcript: “I always have to put on my gear in a very specific order. I put on my left sock, then my right, followed by my left skate, then my right. After that I put on my hockey pants and my left shin pad, followed by my right shin pad. This trend continues on with putting my left gear on before the right until I am fully dressed. 

Informant/Collector Comments: 

  • If I do not put on my gear in this specific order I feel like my pads are not on correctly which in turn makes me think I will have bad luck during the game and play poorly. It also serves as a distraction throughout the game, so if one of my pads doesn’t feel like it is on correctly I will be thinking about that instead of where I should be passing the puck or shooting. 

Collector’s Name: Gabby Billing 

Dartmouth Superstitions

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Title: Dartmouth Superstitions – Currie Putrah

General Information about Item: 

  • Customary Lore, Magic Superstition 
  • Language: English 
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Currie Purtrah 
  • Date Collected: 11/14/21

Informant Data:

  • Currie Putrah was born in Faribault, Minnesota which is where she played hockey at Shattuck St. Mary’s high school. She is now a member of the 2022 graduating class at Dartmouth where she plays forward on the Women’s Ice Hockey team. 

Contextual Data: 

  • Cultural Context: The cultural context is that putting on your gear in a specific order is a common superstition among hockey players. Most of the players on DWIH have a specific way of putting on their gear and that is how they’ve gotten dressed their whole lives. It helps them feel balanced and ready for the game, and if they don’t dress in their respective ways it can throw them off and make them play badly, as it serves as a distraction. 
  • Social Context: The social context is that Currie is only one of many people on the Dartmouth hockey team that puts her gear on a certain way. The magic involved in this superstition is that if she does not put on her gear from left to right she will feel off and play badly. 

Item: Currie putting on her gear in a specific order is in the genre of magic superstition which comes from the category of customary lore.  

Transcript: 

  • “I always have to put on my gear in a very specific order. I put on my left sock, then my right, followed by my left skate, then my right. After that I put on my hockey pants and my left shin pad, followed by my right shin pad. This trend continues on with putting my left gear on before the right until I am fully dressed. 

Informant’s Comments:

  • Currie told me that if she does not put on her gear in this specific order she feels like her pads are not on correctly which in turn makes her think she will have bad luck during the game and play poorly.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I was able to resonate with Currie’s superstition because I do the same thing but in a slightly different order. This is also a common superstition among hockey players. 

Collector’s Name: Gabby Billing 

Dartmouth Superstitions

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Title: Dartmouth Superstitions – Annie King

General Information about Item: 

  • Customary Lore, Magic Superstition 
  • Language: English 
  • Country of Origin: Canada 
  • Informant: Annie King 
  • Date Collected: 11/06/21

Informant Data: 

  • Annie King is 19 years old and is a member of the 2024 class at Dartmouth college. She is in her second year of being on the Dartmouth Women’s Ice Hockey team, however, due to COVID this is the first season she is actually playing with the team. She is from Regina, Saskatchewan Canada where she was born and raised. 

Contextual Data: 

  • Cultural Context: The cultural context is that gatorade is a common sports drink among athletes. The Dartmouth team even has gatorade on the benches during their games and gatorade has been promoted by many professional athletes in commercials. 
  • Social Context: The social context is that Annie is one of many people who drink gatorade before the games. The magic component in this superstition is drinking the gatorade in ¼ increments and if she doesn’t do this she will play bad. 

Item: This is a magic superstition that comes from the category of customary folklore. 

Transcript: “I Always have to wear a purple under armour sports bra under my gear. I drink the gatorade in specific ¼ increments so ¼ before warm ups, ¼ before the first period, ¼ before the second period, and ¼ before the third period. 

Informant’s Comments: 

  • Annie also told me that if she doesn’t drink gatorade before warm ups she will have an off game. She also mentioned that these two superstitions brought her sister good luck when she played hockey, so she passed them down to Annie hoping that they would bring her luck as well. 

Collector’s Comments: 

  • This is one of the most specific superstitions I collected, but it is nice how Annie has kept her sister’s superstitions alive by bringing them to college hockey. 

Collector’s Name: Gabby Billing 

Harvard Superstitions

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Title: Harvard Superstitions – Kyra Willoughby

General Information about Item: 

  • Customary Lore, Magic Superstition 
  • Language: English 
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Kyra Willoughby 
  • Date Collected: 11/05/21

Informant Data: 

  • Kyra Willoughby is in the 2023 graduating class at Harvard and plays on their women’s ice hockey team. She was born in Minnesota and played high school hockey for the Blake School in Minneapolis, MN. During her time playing on the Harvard Women’s Ice Hockey team she has actively tried to get rid of her individual superstitions because if anything went wrong she was convinced she would play poorly and could not properly prepare for games. 

Contextual Data: 

  • Cultural Context: At Harvard these traditions/superstitions have been around for many years (at least 10 according to Kyra). The new members of the team have adopted the superstitions as they have brought their team success in the past and continue to bring them good luck and success today. 
  • Social Context: The social context for this superstition is that Kyra performs it with her other teammates to get pumped up and dialed in before games. They are all able to collectively clap, snap, and cheer along with each other throughout the dance performance that is going on. 

Item: 

  • This item is a customary type of folklore under the genre of magic superstition. Although Kyra doesn’t follow many individual superstitions, she still participates in her team’s superstitions and rituals such as performing handshakes and dance performances before games. 

Transcript: 

  • “There are two handshakes that must be performed during every warmup and they are passed down by graduating seniors every year. 
  • “Our team has a dance to Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody. This dates back to 1990, and the creator is unknown. One person dances to the song (this position is passed down by graduating seniors), while the rest of the team cheers and snaps or claps along. As a freshman, each player picks their seat in our home rink and has to sit there for the next 4 years of the performance.  

Informant’s Comments: 

  • Kyra said the creator of these two handshakes is unknown, and this tradition is at least 10 years old to her knowledge. She also said that if someone sits in the wrong spot during the performance to “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” the whole thing feels off and their team won’t feel properly prepared for their game. 

Collector’s Comments: 

  • I found it very interesting how Kyra has actively tried to get rid of her personal superstitions because speaking from experience they can be pretty harmful. If one thing is off in my routine it could cause a chain reaction of bad events to come. It is also interesting how she still participates in her team superstitions to be supportive and add to their team chemistry before games. 

Collector’s Name: Gabby Billing 

Brown Superstitions

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Title: Brown Superstitions – Megan Forrest

General Information about Item: 

  • Customary Lore, Magic Superstition 
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States 
  • Informant: Megan Forest 
  • Date Collected: 11/08/21

Informant Data: 

  • Megan Forrest is 22 years old and was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, however, she lived in Dubai, UAE from age 5-11 which is when she started playing ice hockey. She finished her undergrad in May 2021 and is pursuing a Masters degree at Brown while continuing to play on the women’s ice hockey team.  

Contextual Data: 

  • Cultural Context: The cultural context is being on a team where other teammates sit in specific seats before their games. This team also does the same cheers before every game and announce their starting line-up which are traditions that have been passed down through many years. All of these superstitions are common among individual hockey players and hockey teams. 
  • Social Context: The social context is that Megan didn’t sit in her red #13 seat one game and she played poorly, so she vowed to never sit in another seat again. In regards to the team superstitions, the same idea is present; in the past there had been games where these superstitions were not performed and the team ended up losing, so they stuck with what worked (doing their team cheers and announcing their lineup in a certain way). 

Item: This is a customary type of folklore that is categorized under the magic superstition genre. Megan performs these specific rituals before every home game and has to adjust them slightly for away games. 

Transcript: 

  • “Before the game to get a caramel swirl iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts. Then I head to the rink. I sit in the stands in seat 13 in the top row of the red chairs and walk through our systems in my head while listening to a pump up playlist I have. At this point I’ll be finishing my coffee so I head downstairs and throw it out in a specific trash can by the stairs.” 
  • “As a team, we always do the same cheer after off ice warm up and a different one in the locker room before going on the ice for the first period. We also have one girl announce our starting lineup in a fun and creative way”

Informant’s Comments: 

  • Although 13 is usually considered an unlucky and “cursed” number, Megan told me that she has been number 13 since she started playing hockey because her mom suggested it as she is the 13th child in her family. This number has always been special to her mom and therefore to Megan as well so it serves as a lucky number rather than a cursed one.

Collector’s Comments: 

  • Before Megan told me the reasoning behind her superstition with the number 13 I thought it was a bit odd as well, but as we learned, a lot of folklore can be passed down by family members so it makes sense why Megan believes this number brings her good luck. 

Princeton Superstitions

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Title: Princeton Superstitions – Emma Kee

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Lore, Magic Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Emma Kee 
  • Date Collected: 11/16/21

Informant Data:

  • Emma Kee is a female Princeton student in the class of 2023. She is from Cincinnati, Ohio but left home to go to boarding school in Faribault, MN in 8th grade. She is currently living in Princeton, NJ. Emma is on the ice hockey team and recently completed an internship in Washington, DC, which she hopes to return to full-time next year. Emma performs a superstition on game days that has been passed down throughout her family and is very meaningful to her.  

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: The cultural context is that putting gear on in a specific order is very common amongst hockey players in any league. 
  • Social Context: The social context is that Emma performs this superstition with her sister after following their brothers’ lead.

Item:

  • This item is a customary type of folklore under the genre of magic superstition. Emma performs these before each home game. 

Transcript:

  • “My older brother used to tie his skates before he put on his shin pads after seeing one of his teammates do it, and I always looked up to him growing up. Now I do as well, and my sister and I both follow his lead before our games, creating our own family superstition  in order to play well.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Emma recommended others who have siblings to create their own family superstitions that can be passed down for generations to create meaning to each time they play the game that they love. 

Collector’s Comments:

  • I found this superstition to be very interesting. Emma told me her father performed the superstition, as well as her uncle, and knows her relatives did before them. This small way for her family to stay connected is very enlightening to me about how folklore is prevalent in our everyday lives. 

Collector’s Name: Currie Putrah