Tag Archives: Ivy League

Introduction

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.

Brown Superstitions

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

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