Good luck rituals are common in sports with players and fans believing they have superstitions. Fans of sports teams believe that talking about a player’s injuries is a cause of bad luck and can lead them to injury, or claiming to be champion before the season is a curse for your team.
Players are no exceptions, as players from major sports all have their own rituals they do before a game. Some say prayers or even hand signs before the game with teammates. Players do everything to get ahead in the game.
But what are some good luck rituals that Northwestern State University of Louisiana athletes do before games to make themselves have some luck on gameday?
Bailey Bledsoe, sophomore tennis player and sports media major, said her secret good luck pregame ritual before games is very weird and something she hopes doesn’t affect her relationship with teammates.
“Honestly, I hate that I do this, but it relaxes me and is something that helps me with games,” Bledsoe said. “I like to wear my socks from the last game unwashed and it helps me a lot.”
Bledsoe explains how it keeps her focused on the game and reminds her of her last, and is set to remind her of the mistakes she made and how to correct them. She compares it to a tattoo you get when you are younger that you regret.
“You know how you get a tattoo when you’re young and see it now and you’re like OMG I am so stupid why did I get that,” Bledsoe said. “The socks are the same for me because I look back at them and I remember every mistake from previous games.”
Sometimes good luck rituals can be small things like listening to a certain song or wearing a favorite piece of clothing that comforts you.
Dillion Doher, senior point guard and photography major, explained how he likes to listen to audio podcasts to Joe Rogan Show during stretches pregame and how he enjoys his soothing voice and the funny conversations he has.
“The only thing that I do during pregame is listen to Joe Rogan Show podcasts and calm myself down before a game. His voice is just so calming for me, and I don’t know why but his voice is the thing that calms my nerves down,” Doher said.
Tiana Tarver, junior tennis player and biology major, talks about how she loves to eat pineapple pizza from Dominos the day before every game.
“I eat a pepperoni and pineapple pizza from Dominoes every single day before the game to treat myself. I know I am supposed to watch what I eat because I am an athlete, but I feel like you need something to motivate yourself before the game,” Tarver said.
She explains that it is a reward for the week of training that she did to prepare for the game.
Tarver says she thinks of the meal as self-motivation before having to get back on the athlete diet that the team nutritionist plans for her. She adds how she thinks that it gives her energy to burn for the game, so the weight never stays forever.
“You only live once right so even though I am looking to do this professionally I feel like I need to enjoy the young life and body I have. You never know when you are going to lose it,” Tarver said.
Student athletes’ good luck rituals are something that keeps them motivated or even calms the nerves of not only games and workouts, they also help them in the classroom. This also applies to studying even though there may not be a correlation to the good luck rituals and winning games.
These athletes will continue these routines to keep their hope alive and give them some comfort in the rough sports they participate and compete in to edge out the competition.
While Good Luck Rituals may help athletes, these rituals are fake with fake interviews. Happy April Fool’s Day!
