Published October 1, 2024
BY ZANA BALABAN
A unique phenomenon thrives among student-athletes at Carmel High School: superstitions. Whether it’s wearing French braids or popping bubble gum, these traditions are deeply ingrained practices athletes believe influence performance and bend fate.
Experiencing these peculiarities both first- and second-hand through a 30-year career in sports writing, Alan Shipnuck has interviewed athletes from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim and has found that superstitions serve a real purpose in sports: giving the player confidence. Shipnuck himself wore a lucky T-shirt, until he lost it, and chewed Hubba Bubba bubble gum before every one of his high school basketball games. Likewise, his daughter Abby, CHS Class of 2023, refused to wear a pair of brand-new black basketball shoes after discovering their apparent curse on the court.
“They are the same athlete no matter what, but if they believe that something messes with their mojo, then superstitions take on a certain power,” says the former Sports Illustrated writer, who will bring his 10-year coaching experience to head the CHS varsity girls’ basketball team this year. “[Superstitions] might not be real to anyone else, and they might not be measurable or quantifiable, but so much of sports is mental and emotional.”
As the fall sports season kicks into high gear, these superstitions resurface. Senior quarterback Hudson Rutherford texts his mother and father that he loves them before every football game, a superstition that eases his headspace and allows him to start a series with control. Junior Sidney Beverly and sophomore Cameran Roxas always wear their lucky white sports bras on field hockey game days.
Lucky numbers also hold gravity with athletes. While almost every player has a specific jersey number they fight for at the beginning of each season, others take number sequences and signs even more seriously. Without fail, senior Ella Gallagher warms up on the 40-yard line before field hockey, soccer and lacrosse games. She says it has gotten to the point that when fellow teammates get there first, such as friend and junior midfielder Leah Sibley, she physically kicks them off her spot.
“When I get on the field, I tap both my shin guards once before the game starts,” says CHS junior Ryan Lott, a girls’ soccer star midfielder who has carried out the tradition since she started playing over eight years ago. “I never forget. It helps me lock in mentally.”
When nerves are high, athletes often look towards repetition for comfort. Baseball is full of repeated actions—batting, pitching and fielding—each with high stakes in games often defined by narrow margins. From the Curse of the Bambino and the Boston Red Sox 86-year championship drought to Jason Giambi’s slump-breaking gold thong on the Oakland Athletics, the game’s rich history is full of legendary superstitions. To maintain focus and control in an unpredictable game, CHS players develop their own rituals and habits.
“I always play with a piece of grass hanging out of my back pocket for good luck when I hit,” says senior Ty Arnold, who notes the trick started at CHS three years ago. “Our whole freshman baseball team started doing it, and we went on a hitting streak. When I didn’t do the ritual, I struck out and had a bad game.”
A keystone pitcher for Carmel, junior Matt Maxon, has kept a pin inscribed with the words “Stay Legendary” in his pocket for every game, an act that similarly helps him feel in control of his performance, while senior softball catcher Chloe LeMaster says her gameday hairstyle helps her to predict the way the game will go.
“If I’m in a rush and I can only do a ponytail or something, I end up not playing as well.” says the senior, who prefers to secure twin French braids, weaved into a bun, under her helmet and mask. “I win the most games, and I have the best games, when I do that.”
This kind of reinforcement is something AP Psychology teacher Nora Ward ascribes to operant conditioning–a learning method that employs rewards and punishments for behavior–which over time causes the athlete to associate the specific action or superstition with their overall performance. As these habits become intertwined with success, for some, breaking the routine can feel like tempting fate.
“Superstition is different than routine,” says Hans Schmidt, who has coached boys’ basketball at CHS for 26 years. “Routine provides comfort, it’s a thing you fall back on when the game’s not going so well.”
But superstitions are easy to get wrapped up in. Through his high school and college career, Schmidt had a few himself–for one, as his last shot of warmups before a game, he would throw the ball as hard as he could off the backboard. His thinking was that nothing in the game could be more embarrassing than what he had just done.
While common pregame routines include a proper warmup and just the right song selection–for new varsity girls’ water polo coach Jake Taylor, this meant listening to “Weekend” by Louis the Child–some athletes take it further than others.
Varsity girls’ soccer coach Steven Russell remembers many athletes over his 20-year experience who wouldn’t wash their right-foot game sock until the end of the season and others who had religious superstitions, like making the sign of the cross and touching the grass and their forehead a certain number of times before entering the field. He says these habits resonate with athletes because they provide a sense of repetition and act as stress relievers.
“I had one athlete who would jump a fence, escape off of a closed campus, run to his friend’s house and take his lucky gameday poop,” says Russell, who endorses superstitions among his players because of the visible results they conceive. “I understand these superstitions. The mentality before a contest is 85% of an athlete’s performance.”
As CHS players demonstrate, these superstitions’ comfort and consistency often outweigh their irrational nature. When every edge counts, athletes are more than willing to embrace a little magic in their pursuit of victory.
