Are you superstitious? Or maybe just a little ‘stitious? Some of LHS’s super athletes have some hardcore superstitions when it comes to the game that they play. Even though some superstitions are treated as a joke, such as black cats and not stepping on cracks, these athletes take their personal habits and rituals very seriously. These superstitions vary from person to person.

“Whenever I’m playing basketball I’m chewing gum,” sophomore Emma Cronin said. “I just feel like chewing gum makes me focus more and I just always have to chew it. I’ve never not chewed it during a game.”

If this particular habit is not done or followed through with, then Cronin feels that she is off her usual game.

“I think if I didn’t chew gum during a game, I would think about the fact that I wasn’t chewing gum for the entire game and then I wouldn’t be focused on basketball,” Cronin said. “A few times I’ve played I haven’t chewed gum and I just feel like I don’t play as well. It’s weird for me so I’ll try to get a piece about halfway through if I don’t have any.”

Some others besides Cronin actually have a valid and scientific purpose behind their superstition, besides the fact that they’ve just done it for a long time.

“If I’m not listening to music I probably won’t swim that well,” junior Carly Simpson said. I don’t really have a good pace which is what the music’s main purpose is.”

Some sports superstitions come from the sports themselves, rather than a specific person’s experience with the sport.

“Before every baseball game we play catch with the same person so we get into the right routine,” junior Logan Steenstra said. “I really started getting superstitious about it in high school baseball because everyone who played baseball was. It’s just kind of a thing within baseball.”

Along with superstitions being passed down through the sport, some superstitions are passed down through other older athletes.

“My friend Peyton Trester and I always do a certain handshake before every single game before kick off for soccer,” senior Addy Gray said. “If that doesn’t happen then it’s normally a pretty awkward game because we aren’t on our game. We started this because there used to be girls on our team who did it, but then they graduated.”

Even some coaches like to get in on the fun and excitement of having a sports superstition.

“Two years ago when we were down to the final four for basketball, I wore the same shoes, pants, shirt, and tie combination for every postseason game,” basketball coach Zach Werner said. “It kept working and we kept winning, so I just kept wearing the same outfit. I don’t think that if I didn’t wear the same outfit it would have impacted the results, but I just couldn’t bring myself not to, just in case.”

While there are plenty of students and coaches with superstitions here at LHS, some others don’t have any at all and never have.

“I don’t really have any nervous habits or superstitions,” freshman Drew Savaiano said. “I mainly just warm up before a wrestling match and that’s about it.”

However even those without superstitions, such as Savaiano, still recognize the purpose and meaning behind them.

“I think the people with superstitions think that it helps them get really prepared for their match or game,” Savaiano said.
Simpson agreed.

“I think having special superstitions that you follow through with can help the athlete feel more comfortable during their game or races,” Simpson said. “It can help calm nerves beforehand that way they aren’t as nervous during their own races or games.”