Category Archives: FA21-Grp-05

Topic: Pre-xc/track meet traditions/superstitions at Dartmouth

Lucky Crystals

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General information about item:

  • Tradition, superstition, ritual, material lore
  • Language: English
  • Country of origin: United States
  • Informant: NS
  • Date Collected: 11/6/2021

Informant Data:

  • NS is a female current Dartmouth College sophomore in the graduating class of 2024. She is originally from Colts Neck, New Jersey and currently resides in Hanover, New Hampshire. She plans to major in Environmental Studies at Dartmouth. NS runs the 1500, 3000, and 5000 for track and the 5k and 6k for cross country.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Athletes often have rituals that they follow before big events or competitions. Not only do these rituals act as an way to soothe one’s mindset before they compete, but it leaves little room for the error. These rituals originate from a desire to feel as in control as possible as to leave no variable up to chance when leading up to such a high stakes event. Rituals can be seen as a global phenomenon for athletes in order to prepare themselves.For NS, she has specific crystals that she carries around and sleeps with the night before a race- her crystals resemble luck and purity.
  • Social Context: Rituals are accepted throughout the athletic community and beyond- it is something to make one feel more comfortable in a situation that they have little control over. Additionally, rituals are an individualized action even if many people in society are involved in this act- depending on the individual their ritual can be serious or playful. Rituals are used for individuals to feel connected to something they are used to before they enter a situation of the unknown.

Item:

  • “I have specific crystals that I carry around and sleep with the night before a race. To me, these crystals represent good luck and provide me with a sense of security. I have always been a very ritualistic and spiritual person. I have a lot of rituals in my everyday life. Racing brings out a lot of these rituals. I think these rituals have a lot to do with a desire to be in control and feel a sense of comfort in a situation that is very uncomfortable. However, I have learned to become more adaptable in college because it is not possible to maintain all of the same rituals here.”

Associate file (a video, audio, or image file):

  • informant requested to not be recorded.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I found this to be a very unique ritual/superstition out of the many that I collected. While many of my items had some overlapping features, the crystals that this informant uses were extremely unique to her which I admired.

Collector’s Name: Anna Brause

Tags/Keywords:

  • Track/XC
  • Dartmouth
  • Superstition
  • Crystals

Pre-HEPS Dinner and Cheer

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General Information about Item:

• Ritual / Tradition
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: USA
• Informant: TBS
• Date Collected: 11/15/19

Informant Data:

TBS is a ‘23 from Portland Oregon on the Track & Field team. She has been on the team for three years and participates in the throwing events, specifically hammer and weight throw. She began competing in track and field her senior year of high school.  

Contextual Data:

• Cultural Context: Dartmouth is one of eight colleges in the Ivy League. The Ivy League is a Division I athletic conference made up of colleges and universities all located in the eastern U.S. and extremely rigorous academically. The biggest competition each season for the track and field and cross-country teams that compete in this conference is the Heptagonal Championships, or HEPS for short. This meet is referred to as the heptagonal championships because there used to be only seven teams in the Ivy League. Throughout the years some schools left the league and others joined to create a total of the eight teams there are today, however the name of this championship stuck. This meet is the only one all year where only all eight teams compete against each other, and it is extremely important.
• Social Context: Although not every athlete on the team qualifies to compete at HEPS, the whole team comes together to send off those competing. It is important for overall team comradery and spirits going into the competition. It is also very common for all athletic teams to eat a meal together before competition so they can form deeper connections with their teammates.

Item:

• The tradition is that before the HEPS meet, the whole team comes together and has a team dinner at 53 Commons and does a team cheer at the end as a sendoff for those competing.

Associated Media File: 

Video of the 2010 Dartmouth Track and Field Team doing the team cheer before the 2010 Heptagonal Championships.

Informant’s Comments:

TBS says that before every big meet, specifically HEPS, the whole team sits at the “track team” table at 53 Commons and eats dinner together. At the end of the meal, one of the captains begins the team cheer and the rest of the team joins in and chants together. This is done in front of all the other people eating in the dining hall. While it can be somewhat embarrassing to draw attention to yourself by participating in the cheer, you know you are not alone because the whole team is participating in it. It is a great bonding experience and one that makes you feel really special and proud to be a part of the Dartmouth track and field team.  

Collector’s Comments:

  • As a newer member of the track and field team whose experience has been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, this is not a tradition that I have been able to participate in yet. However, I am very excited to do this before the indoor HEPS this upcoming winter. The cheer is something that all new athletes on the team learn very soon after arriving on campus. This is a great example of verbal folklore because the author is unknown, it is passed down orally through generations, and it doesn’t have any true meaning other than for the team itself. The team dinner is also important because of the bonding it encourages between event groups and upper/underclassmen.

Collector’s Name:

Madyson Buchalski

Team Cheer

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General Information

  • Tradition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: USA
  • Informant: SM
  • Date Collected: 11/19/2021

Informant Data

  • SM was a soccer player in high school before switching to cross country. In high school he competed in the mile and 2 mile competitions. At Dartmouth he competes in the 5k and 10k for track and the 8k for cross country. He is the current captain of the cross country and track teams.

Contextual Data

  • Cultural Context: Collective traditions are prevalent on many sports teams. They help instill comradery among the members and can improve team spirit and morale.

Item

  • The captain, or the senior most member of the team, gathers everyone about 100 meters from the starting line and says “Men of Dartmouth set a watch”. The team then responds with “Lest the old traditions fail”.

Associated Audio Recording

Informant’s Comments

  • SM says that there have been some really talented runners that came from Dartmouth and the tradition is meant to emulate them. Performing it will hopefully allow the runners to perform as well as the most talented runners that came before them.

Collector’s Comments

  • This piece of folklore is particularly interesting because the point is for the current runners to perform as well as the runners of the past. This means that the traditions span across multiple decades and people of all ages that were a part of the team at some point share a common bond.

Collector’s Name

  • Alex Printsev

Wake-Ups

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General Information

  • Tradition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: USA
  • Informant: LS
  • Date Collected: 11/9/2021

Informant Data

  • LS did three sports in high school before she talked to a private coach and began to like running more. At Dartmouth she runs the mile and 3k races.

Contextual Data

  • Cultural Context: Lots of sports teams have traditions that are meant for team building. These traditions bring the members of the team closer together and help build comradery.
  • Social Context: Freshmen in college can sometimes be nervous about joining a new team or coming to college generally. Activities that bond the team together can help them mesh into their new environment and upperclassmen can act as guides.

Item

  • Everyone dresses up in flair (colorful clothes) and go to the dorms of freshman that they are assigned to. They wake them up and pretend that the coach wants to do a morning workout. They then run around and sing songs.

Associated Audio Recording

Informant’s Comments

  • This tradition builds comradery among the team. It makes sure everyone has the mindset and brings people together regardless of ability or status.

Collector’s Comments

  • Team building activities like this are great for building team morale. They help participants feel like they are part of a large organization of which they are an important part.

Collector’s Name

  • Alex Printsev

Hair Tie

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General Information about Item

  • Tradition/Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Informant: GM
  • Date Collected: 11/9/2021

Informant Data

  • GM is from Northern California, outside of San Francisco. She competes in the 6k and an assortment of other races of varying distances – anywhere from a mile to 5k.

Contextual Data

  • Cultural context: According to GM, uptight members of the track team are very superstitious and have lots of pre-game rituals that they believe will help them perform well. Many athletes across many different sport have superstitions pertaining to certain articles of clothing.

Item

  • Before each race, GM ties two black ties to her hair. She then ties a bow to a third black hair tie.

Informant’s Comments

  • The point of the bow is to promote a “look good, feel good” mindset. She believes it will help her perform better in competitions.

Collector’s Comments

  • When I played soccer, I had a similar mindset. I always felt that making sure my apparel looked good was crucial to my actual performance on the field.

Collector’s Name

  • Alex Printsev

Shirt and Shorts

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General Information about Item

  • Tradition / Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: USA
  • Informant: JN
  • Date Collected: 11/8

Informant Data:

  • JN is a ‘24 on the Dartmouth Cross Country Team from Massachusetts. COVID has definitely impacted his time on the team, but he says he is very excited to learn more about the team’s traditions and culture.

Contextual Data: 

  • Cultural Context: A lot of individuals carry good luck charms throughout their lives, and athletes are no different. However, because it is hard/impossible to carry specific items during a competition, a lot of athletes take to wearing specific clothes to bring them good luck. 
  • Social Context: Packing for an event can be a stressful thing. Forgetting something during the day of a meet is a pretty worrying, and there are a lot of factors that make it easy to forget things (nerves, tiredness, etc.). Therefore, having the same outfit can make it easier on an athlete, because they know exactly what they need to grab.

Item:

  • JN wears the same shirt and same shorts to each race. He picked this up from his highschool team and has continued it into college.

Associated Audio Recording:

Informant’s Comments:

  • JN says he gets a little panicky and feels off if he wears any other outfit, and he mentioned that this specific shirt and shorts combination is the first thing he packs when traveling for a competition.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Clothing is a very controllable thing, so it makes sense that athletes would want to control over as much as possible before heading into a competition. This especially applies to XC. While I have never personally competed in this sport, it seems that there are a large amount of uncontrollable things (weather, terrain, etc.), so trying to take control of as much as possible makes sense. 

Collector’s Name:

  • Jonah Kahl

Don’t Cross the Finish Line

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General Information about Item

  • Tradition / Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: USA
  • Informant: JN
  • Date Collected: 11/8

Informant Data:

  • JN is a ‘24 on the Dartmouth Cross Country Team from Massachusetts. COVID has definitely impacted his time on the team, but he says he is very excited to learn more about the team’s traditions and culture.

Contextual Data: 

  • Cultural Context: Much like in other sports, XC teams can arrive to the place of competition early and get some reps in. For XC, it is important to get a lay of the land as to avoid any surprises during the actual competition.
  • Social Context: This superstition is passed down from the older runners to the younger generation as they are warned about the bad luck that could befell them if they were to not abide by the rules of the superstition.

Item:

  • On the day before a race, while the team is running through it, they do not cross the finish line. 

Associated Audio Recording:

Informant’s Comments:

  • You only want to cross the finish line once, because that makes it “count.” If you cross it any other time, it would lead to bad luck during the race.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I had a very similar superstition when I was in High School. I played football, and would avoid going onto the field the day before a game because I felt that I might “leave it on the field” too early and play bad the next day.

Collector’s Name:

  • Jonah Kahl

Lucky Socks

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General Information about Item:

  • Ritual / Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: USA
  • Informant: MG
  • Date Collected: 10/25/21 

Informant Data:

  • MG is a ‘24 from Schaghticoke, New York on the Track & Field team. He has been on the team for two years and participates in the throwing events, specifically hammer, weight throw, and shot put. He began competing in track and field at Greenwich High School in NY during his sophomore year of high school in 2015. 

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Clothing has been used throughout time in many different cultures as a way to distinguish when a certain event or ritual is taking place. Athletes all over the world at every level of competition have pieces of clothing/accessories that they consider lucky for game/race day. It is very common in the athlete world, and beyond, to have a lucky piece of clothing that is worn when the person wants to be successful.

Item:

  • MG always wears the same pair of socks for each of his competitions. They are a pair of Captain America socks that was gifted to him by his mother. 

Associated File: 

Photo courtesy of MG of him competing wearing the item. At this meet he got a personal best, and attributes some of that success to the socks.

Informant’s Comments:

  • MG has continued to wear the same pair of socks because he has been very successful while wearing them and believes he will not do as well if he doesn’t wear them. This belief stems from the fact that all his personal records in high school and college were set in them and the few times he did not wear them he did not do as well. 
  • Even though the item is falling apart (the socks have holes in them), MG says he can’t bring himself to get rid of them because he truly believes they give him the ability to get personal records. 
  • The tradition stemmed from a family tradition of gifting and then wearing funny socks. He began wearing them to meets and noticed he seemed to do better with this particular pair, so he began to wear them more and more, making it grow into a habit and then a superstition. 

Collector’s Comments:

  • As a varsity athlete myself, I definitely have heard of many of my past and current teammates who have a similar ritual/superstition for themselves. While I don’t currently have anything that I always wear for competition apart from the uniform, I have in the past. In high school during my junior and senior year, every track meet I wore the exact same pair of leggings after winning the state championship in them the year prior. I felt that I always performed better in them, and in the few times I didn’t wear them, I actually did worse. Similarly , when I played volleyball in high school, I always wore the same pair of socks and hair tie. I think this can be attributed to the fact that in a meet or a game you can’t control a lot of things, so the one thing you have total control over is yourself. Choosing to wear the same thing definitely helps in maintaining that little bit of control. I found having a so-called “lucky” accessory/clothing item always put me in the right mindset, gave me more confidence (even if it was unwarranted), and made me feel better going into competition. 
  • This would fall into the category of material folklore, since it is something physical that athletes wear on race day. Additionally, it is a sign superstition in the form “If I do A, then B” because MG believed that wearing the socks would make him perform better. 
  • While this isn’t a Dartmouth team specific tradition/superstition, this is just one example of the many athletes on the team who have similar superstitions. 

Collector’s Name:

  • Madyson Buchalski

Something Embarrassing

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General Information about Item:

  • Traditions
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: USA
  • Informant: MS
  • Date Collected: 11/6

Informant Data:

  • MS is a ‘22 from Florida on the Track & Field team. He has been on the team all 4 years and participates in the hammer and weight throw events.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Sports teams are known to have events where the coaches aren’t present to increase team bonding. Without the coaches present, it can lead to the team feeling more connected as students and athletes.
  • Social Context: Speaking in front of a crowd is, for some people, one of the most difficult tasks one can be asked to do. This situation could be amplified by the story being an embarrassing one. 

Item:

  • The night before the Ivy League Championship, the Track & Field team gathers together and have the first-time HEPs athletes tell an embarrassing story in front of the entire team. The coaches aren’t present, and everyone tells something pretty personal.

Associated Audio File:

Informant’s Comments:

  • This tradition can be difficult for people who are afraid of public speaking, but towards the end everyone is laughing and having a great time. This event truly helped make me feel a part of the team.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I have never been afraid of public speaking, but I think having to tell one of my most embarrassing stories in front of a group of people I respect and admire would be difficult. However, it seems that this tradition does incredible things for team spirit, and I’d be curious to see if it works for groups other than sports teams. 

Collector’s Name:

  • Jonah Kahl

Same Song

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General Information about Item:

  • Ritual / Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: USA
  • Informant: MS
  • Date Collected: 11/6

Informant Data:

  • MS is a ‘22 from Florida on the Track & Field team. He has been on the team all 4 years and participates in the hammer and weight throw events.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Music has been used throughout the ages to prepare people for all sorts of events. Whether it is used before a calm event or an intense event, there is a song for the occasion. Athletes constantly use music to get read for the game/event they are about to participate in.
  • Social Context: Before a meet/event, there are people who like to listen to music with the team and others who like to listen to their own music. Listening to music as a team can start to get people in the right mindset and act as bonding time. However, some people prefer to be with their own thoughts and listen to their own music before an event. 

Item:

  • MS always listens to the same two songs immediately before his competition. These two songs are “Pretender” by the Foo Fighters and “Do I Wanna Know” by the Arctic Monkeys.

Associated Audio Recording:

Informant’s Comments:

  • MS has continued to listen to these same two songs throughout the years because they were his favorite songs around the time his track career started to take off. While he still enjoys these songs, he will avoid/skip them if they come up at any other time besides right before he competes. He also added that, if one were to check his top 100 songs every year, these two would definitely be there solely because of this pre-meet ritual. 

Collector’s Comments:

  • While I don’t have specific songs, I do have a fairly similar ritual with big events such as tests, interviews, etc. While getting ready or walking over to the event I always listen to the punk rock genre. For some reason, I always feel like I do better on whatever it is if I listen to this kind of music.

Collector’s Name:

  • Jonah Kahl