Category Archives: FA21-Grp-09

Topic: Hockey superstitions amongst the Ivy League women’s hockey teams

Cornell Superstitions

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Title: Cornell Superstitions – Izzy Daniels

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Lore, Magic Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Izzy Daniels
  • Date Collected: 11/15/21

Informant Data:

  • Izzy Daniels is a female athlete at Cornell and is in the class of 2024. She is from Edina, MN and has lived there her whole life. She is currently living in Ithaca, NY and is playing for the women’s ice hockey team. She is involved in many things on campus and loves spending time with her teammates.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: The cultural context is that many teams pass down superstitions from one class year to the next.
  • Social Context: The social context is being in a small group of people participating in the same action of wearing the bracelet. 
  • The magic substances in these superstitions are the bracelets. 

Item:

  • These items are customary types of folklore under the genre of magic superstition. Izzy wears the bracelet with her teammates before and during each home game. 

Transcript:

  • “Every other year three seniors hand down special bracelets to three juniors on the team. I received one this year along with my three closest friends and we have to wear them for each game or we will not play well. This has been going on for as long as I can remember.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Izzy adopted these superstitions from teammates before her who she was friends with, and now does these things with two of her closest friends on the team.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I think it is very unique that a group of three people has the opportunity to wear these bracelets each year, and it is a superstition that is passed on to new teammates every other year that helps players gain confidence in their new teams and feel connected to the people that came before them. 

Collector’s Name: Currie Putrah 

Cornell Superstitions

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Title: Cornell Superstitions – Lily Delianedis 

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Lore, Magic Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Lily Delianedis 
  • Date Collected: 11/09/21

Informant Data:

  • Lily Delianedis is a female athlete at Cornell and is in the class of 2025. She is from Edina, MN and moved there when she was in middle school from Cape Cod. She is currently living in New York and is undeclared for her major. She plans to get her Master’s Degree after Cornell and wants to live on the East Coast when she is older.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: The cultural context is that many hockey players go to coffee shoes before games and re-tape their sticks as well.
  • Social Context: The social context is interacting with people who participate in the handshakes and re-taping their sticks together. 
  • The magic substances in these superstitions are hot chocolate, tape, and the team sign. 

Item:

  • These items are customary types of folklore under the genre of magic superstition. Lily performs these before each home game. 

Transcript:

  • “I have to drive to a coffee shop and get a hot chocolate, then drive around and listen to music. When we have our team warm ups I have to tap a certain wall during warmups, and do a specific handshake with one of my teammates. I have to tape my stick before our team warm ups and tap our team sign in the locker room with my stick on the way out to the ice before the first period. If I do not do these things then I will feel off and I will not have a good game.”  

Informant’s Comments:

  • Lily said she adopted these superstitions from teammates before her who she was friends with, and now does these things with two of her closest friends on the team, recommending others to do so as well.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I was interested that their team does not have any collective superstitions or group superstitions, but they do have rituals that they like to complete before games such as playing spikeball or participating in a race. However, these things are not cause and result and are not necessary to be completed in order to play well. 

Collector’s Name: Currie Putrah 

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary Lore
  • Magic Superstition 
  • Sticks
  • Tape
  • Sign
  • Hot Chocolate

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 

Princeton Superstitions

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Title: Princeton Superstitions – Annie Kuehl 

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Lore, Sign Superstition, Magic Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Annie Kuehl 
  • Date Collected: 11/10/21

Informant Data:

  • Annie Kuehl is a female Princeton student in the class of 2024. She is from Edina, Minnesota and lived there her whole life. She is currently living in Princeton, NJ. At school Annie is on the Women’s Ice Hockey team and plans to pursue a career in business. She has 2 superstitions that she follows strictly before games. 

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: The cultural context is being part of a team where other girls use white stick tape as well, which is a superstition passed down from team to team. 
  • Social Context: The social context is interacting with people who also tape their back-up sticks before games, along with getting caffeine. 
  • The magic substance in the superstition about taping her sticks is the white tape. 

Item:

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

Transcript:

  • “If CVS is out of Celcius Green Tea Lemonade then I will go to Starbucks and get a Venti Iced Vanilla latte. I tape all 3 of my sticks with white tape before our team warm ups.  ‘I once broke my stick and had to use my backup, which had the worst tape job of my life, so ever since then I’ve starting taping all 3,’”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Annie mentioned that if she did not do these two things or if she only taped two sticks then she would play badly and not be able to communicate with the women she plays with. She also said she now tapes her backup sticks with her linemates in order to play well. 

Collector’s Comments:

  • I was very intrigued by Annie’s superstitions because she was the first person who mentioned a sign superstition. It was also interesting to hear about the reason she tapes all three of her sticks based on something that happened to her, but that how she started using white tape initially was because her idol on the team did before her. 

Collector’s Name: Currie Putrah