How much of sports is physical, and how much is mental? This season, the Girls Varsity Hockey Team experienced a series of losses until their recent win against Winchendon on Wednesday, Febraury 1. Earlier in the season, the team tried what seemed like everything to try and get back into the groove of things, including a unique experience one might call a spritual ceremony. This experience was led by one of the team’s assistant coaches, Science Teacher Toby Emerson, who was influenced by his multiple superstitions. He said that he had already “exhausted every combination of clothing, hats, and rituals before games, so this was the final straw.”
The spiritual ritual was held in front of the McAlister and Field quad right after the team’s practice on Thursday, the day before the team’s home game against Northfield Mount Hermon. The ritual took around 25 minutes and consisted of the team standing around a firepit with music. Each player brought a token they wished to burn to this event.
According to one of the team’s captains, CC DesLauriers ’23, the ritual was essential, because “as a team, we realized that we needed to move forward and not dwell on the past [games]” she said. DesLauriers described the burning part of the ritual as helpful because it encouraged and enabled the team to “[feel] better about our next game and [feel] much lighter without the weight of our past few games on our backs” she added.
Although the girls lost to NMH the next day, the team put up a strong fight and the game went into overtime resulting in the final score of 1-2. Despite the loss, the game dynamics revealed that the team had built a stronger connection and reinvigorated passion for their sport and a determination to win.
The two games that followed the ritual were losses, but that third game after, the Girls Varsity Hockey team finally brought back a win against Winchendon. The saying “third time’s a charm” holds true, as it was the third game since the ritual that they won. The ritual may have been just the charm the team needed.