Representing this school is no easy feat when the success of the team lays heavy. Adorned with lucky socks and having eaten the same pregame breakfast every game day since the beginning of your athletic career, players are fueled with the confidence to take on any opponent.
As the athletes of CMU prepare for their competition, it’s common to see them engage in specific rituals to help diffuse some of that pregame anxiety. These practices can be something as simple as cracking your knuckles in a certain order before the start of a match or as extravagant as a whole day event. Lucky socks, wearing the same hairstyles, listening to the same songs or even eating the same foods are simple things that can act as an anchor for the athletes.
Athletes are faced with immense pressure to perform their very best. Finding ways to alleviate those pregame jitters is essential. Before a race, senior triathlon athlete, Josie Williams, created a simple ritual to alleviate stress.
“I have to crack my neck on both sides right before the start of the race. It started when I was in high school as a way to release tension in my neck before I swam. I’ve been doing it for the past five years,” Williams said.
The triathlon team took fourth at the 2025 nationals. Williams claimed a CTCA/USA Scholar All-American honorable mention.
Although many pregame rituals are simple, there are others created through chance and repeated based on superstition. Athletes not only believe these rituals enhance their performance; many believe they help them get into the right mindset, prevent injury or bring good luck. When serious athletes find something that works, it is repeated to perfection.
For junior midfielder Kylie Hoffman, who plays for the women’s soccer team, her pregame ritual is to braid junior goalkeeper Keely Wieczorek’s hair. It is credited with helping lead to their team’s success over their last three seasons.
“I’ve always braided Keely’s hair. She asked me on the first day she met me if I knew how to braid hair and I said yes. And then she said, ‘Okay, you’re going to braid my hair for the rest of my life,’” Hoffman said. “Our sophomore season, we did bubbles in her ponytail and it was really, really good for us. She got goalkeeper of the year.”
The women’s soccer team are recognized as the RMAC Regular Season Champions of 2025. They had an overall record of 14-4-2, with nine RMAC wins. The team was also an NCAA Tournament Qualifier. Hoffman’s braiding ritual potentially played a role in this success.
Pregame rituals provide necessary benefits. Whether they are designed to help put them into the right mindset, enhance their performance or are purely superstitious, these rituals help to alleviate stress, build confidence and strengthen team bonds in ways that lead to some seriously successful seasons.
