Tag Archives: soccer

Entering the field with left foot and untied shoelaces (Pedro Campos)

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Title: Entering the field with left foot and untied shoelaces

General Information about Item:

  • Sympathetic (Contagious) Magic Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Origin: Willingdon, England
  • Informant: T.C.
  • Date collected: 11/2/2021

Informant Data:

  • T.C. is a male student-athlete from the class of 2024 who plays soccer at Dartmouth. He was born and raised in Willingdon, England. T.C. has been playing soccer since before he could walk and is a fan of the West Ham United FC.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Soccer (or football, as it is referred to in England) is a major part of English culture, especially for boys. Kids at a young age often look up to professional footballers and try to emulate them (dress code, hairstyle, style of play, and so on).
  • Social Context: T.C. explained his superstitions to me right before a game, which is when he performs them. At first, he did not seem to remember where he picked up his superstitions from, but after further questioning he agreed that he was attempting to emulate professional player’s rituals.

Item:

  • Before a game, T.C. will enter the field with the laces in his soccer boots untied and will take two steps on his left foot before taking one on his right.

Associated files/pictures:

Transcript:

  • “I don’t tie the laces on my boots until I’m out in the field. And also, when I get on the field I take two steps on my left foot before I take a step on my right. I might have picked up my superstitions when I was 13 at my club back in England.”

Informants Comments:

  • He later remembered that the shoelace superstition was based on a ritual performed by former England national team left back Leighton Baines.

Collector’s Comments:

  • As a 13-year-old, T.C. was obviously emulating professional footballers and their superstitions, as an attempt of being a more integral member of the footballers folk group. Walking into the pitch on foot is a very common superstition among soccer players.

Collector’s Name:

  • Pedro Campos

Tags:

  • Superstition
  • England
  • Soccer, Football
  • Shoelaces

Stepping on the Field (George Altirs)

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Title: Stepping on the Field

General Information about Item:

Genre: Customary Lore, Superstition

Country of Origin: Israel

Informant: OY

Date Collected: 10-28-21

Informant Data:

OY is a player on Dartmouth Men’s Soccer team in the Class of 2022 at Dartmouth. He was born in Israel and lived there until he was 10 years old. He played on a recreational soccer team there. He then moved to Boston when he was 10 with his family. He went to Brookline High School, but he played on a separate professional youth team called New England Revolution. His younger brother and sister also play soccer.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: One day, OY was watching the professional team Maccabi Haifa in Israel at the age of 9 (2009). He saw that a player ran onto the field with a little stutter step, where he stepped onto the field with his right foot and hopped on it again before stepping onto his left. That player scored the winning goal in the game, and OY admired him. OY started doing the same thing, believing that it will make him play well like that player. He had been doing that ever since when he steps out onto a soccer field, and he still does it in his Dartmouth games. I noticed that OY does this before games, and I asked him about it, which is where I collected this piece of folklore.

Cultural Context: In Israel, soccer is the most popular sport, in contrast to the US. OY used to play soccer in the streets and in school with his friends. Oftentimes in soccer, children see professional players doing things, and they want to be like them. This is the case with OY and other kids in Israel during that time. They saw that a player was doing something, and they did the same thing. They then will keep that ritual or superstition going for the rest of their life.

Item:

When OY runs on to the soccer field for the first time before a game, he always steps over the sideline with his right foot first, then hops again on his right foot before stepping on his left. He needs to do this so that he can play well.

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

Ohad Yahalom - Men's Soccer - Dartmouth College Athletics

Transcript:

“When I was younger, I saw this player step onto the field in a certain way, and I really liked the way that player played. I really wanted to be like him, which is why I started to do this routine when stepping on the field and believing in the superstition.”

Informant’s Comments:

This is something that I’ve done for almost my whole life. At this point, it’s just something that I do to make me feel comfortable. I know that it probably doesn’t affect my performance, but I just feel weird if I don’t do it.

Collector’s Comments:

I know, firsthand (as a soccer player), that this is something that happens a lot in soccer. Children always love imitating the routines and mannerisms of their favorite professional players and let these routines adapt for themselves over the years as they get older.

Collector’s Name:

George Altirs

Dartmouth College

Russian 13: Slavic Folklore

Professors Gronas and Apresjan

21F

Blades of Grass (George Altirs)

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Title: Blades of Grass

General Information about Item:

Genre: Customary Lore, Magic Superstition

Country of Origin: United States

Informant: GS

Date Collected: 11-1-21

Informant Data:

GS is a male Dartmouth student-athlete on the soccer team in the class of the 2022. He was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He has been playing soccer for as long as he can remember. Back home in Texas, he played on the Dallas Texans Academy soccer team. He plays for Dartmouth as an outside defender.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: GS’s family is historically not a big soccer family. GS has 3 brothers that all played soccer, but they were the first generation in his family to ever play the sport. GS’s younger brother, Cullen, plays soccer at the University of Pennsylvania. His parents were originally not very familiar with the sport, but they began to enjoy watching the sport more and more as their children grew up. GS’s father grew up in Texas playing football, and so did GS’s grandfather. The context in which GS got this superstition is when his father told him a tradition that his high school football team did before all their games to give them good luck. GS learned this before his first game in his first year at Dartmouth College (2018). He did the ritual that his father told him about, and he played really well. Now, he does it GS before every game. GS informed me about this superstition/ritual when at our apartment when I asked him if he has learned about any soccer superstitions throughout the years.

Cultural Context: Here, GS applied a football tradition that originated a long time ago in Texas to his soccer games at Dartmouth. This shows how certain aspects of folklore can obtain variations and change throughout time.


Item:

Before every game, GS eats a blade of grass that he is about to play on for good luck. If he doesn’t do this he feels like he will play bad.

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

Garrett Scott - Men's Soccer - Dartmouth College Athletics

Transcript:

“I eat a blade of grass on the field I am about to play on, every time I play a game. This is for good luck.”

Informant’s Comments:

It’s definitely a weird thing that I do. My dad gave me confidence when he first told me about it. I liked that it was something that he used to do when he was younger, so I felt like I wanted to try it out and carry down the tradition. And it has worked pretty well for me.

Collector’s Comments:

I think it’s interesting that GS originally took a tradition that came from Texas high school football and transferred it over to the Dartmouth College soccer.

Collector’s Name:

George Altirs

Dartmouth College

Russian 13: Slavic Folklore

Professors Gronas and Apresjan

21F

No Cuts Allowed! (Jack Cameron)

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Title: No Cuts Allowed!

General Information about Item:

  • Magic Superstition, contagious
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: Lebanon
  • Informant: GA
  • Date Collected: 11/5/21

Informant Data:

  • GA is a 20-year-old male Dartmouth student in the class of 2023.  He was born in Manhattan and raised in a New Jersey Suburb. George is a member of the Men’s Varsity Soccer team at Dartmouth. Both of George’s parents are Lebanese immigrants. George is an Economics major, and plans on entering the finance industry after Dartmouth.  During his time at Dartmouth, Kyu enjoys playing the bassoon in the orchestra.  In his time away from Dartmouth, Kyu has hiked part of the Appalachian Trail (AT).  His plans after Dartmouth include working as a consultant. 

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Soccer players and teams have their own superstitions, but so do different countries. George’s superstition comes from his father, who brought it to him from his native Lebanon. Haircuts and hair in general are viewed differently in many Middle Eastern countries, and the connection between a severed part is well renowned in folklore.
  • Social Context: This specific superstition was mentioned when the interviewee was asked about superstitions that he had before coming to Dartmouth. Immigrants often bring parts of culture that are scarcely seen in America, as is the case with George’s father.

Item:

  • George does not cut his hair for the duration of his soccer season. He said that his father has told him from a young age that it is very bad luck in Lebanon to get rid of a piece of you while you strive towards your goals. George adds that his father and grandfather followed the same superstition while growing up in Lebanon, as did all of their teammates.  

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

Transcript:

  • “I’ve never really cut my hair during the season. My dad always said that growing up in Lebanon it was really bad luck to lose a part of you as you move onwards, so I usually go for a haircut before the season and then one to end it. When I was young my grandfather would keep warning me about cutting my hair during the season because that’s the way they do it over in Lebanon. I have no idea where it came from, but it has been around my entire career. ”

Informant’s Comments:

  • I really like it, I like getting my pre-season and post-season haircuts. I feel like they act as a distinct beginning and end of a season, and like that knowing that when I go through struggles during the season I am not losing a part of me.  

Collector’s Comments:

  • I found this contagious superstition to be very interesting.  Not only was the superstition rooted deeply in his Lebanese family, but he also brought it over to America. This reminds me of the playoff beard superstition that often happens in my sport (hockey), but I found it interesting that his grandfather would call him to make sure he hadn’t cut his hair.

Collector’s Name:

 Jack Cameron

Dartmouth College

Russ013 21F

Prof. Apresyan and Prof. Gronas