Traditions are common among sport teams, serving to promote team spirit and bonding.
Roosevelt has its fair share of spirit traditions as well. According to Cross Country Captain Steiger Dodge ’24, his team has three main traditions, the new one this year being the Chocolate Milk Mile. It takes place on a random day during the cross country season at midnight, this year at Eckstein Middle School.
The event consists of running four laps around the track and drinking a cup of chocolate milk after every lap. Dodge said, “The goal is to be the fastest one. But usually people don’t finish or they have a very hard time finishing because drinking milk while running is very hard.” Dodge continued, “This year we had a runner from a different school come and blow out our entire team which we thought was really funny.”
“Dress to Impress”, another cross country tradition takes place a few days before Metro Championships at the Tutta Bella Restaurant. Dodge said, “The purpose of it is to wear the most hideous outfit you can wear. So we have about 100 kids eating at a restaurant and they’re all wearing crazy outfits and it’s a lot of fun.”
This tradition has been in place for a long time. Dodge said he likes it because “it puts everyone into sort of a funny position. Everyone’s just sort of forced to cope and enjoy the time they spend with each other.” During this dinner, the captains also hand out paper plate awards to every person on the team. Dodge said the plates are the highlight of the dinner as the captains highlight “something funny that [the athlete] does, or something unique to them … the awards are usually meant to be pretty funny.”
Meanwhile, the varsity basketball team has the tradition of going to Kona Kitchen in Maple Leaf after Saturday practices. Jalen Dollar ’24, a captain of the varsity team, claimed, “Kona Kitchen, that’s a very hot spot that we usually go to as a team. Breakfast there is amazing. Customer service, not so much, but it’s getting there.”
Dollar said before the COVID-19 pandemic there were a lot more traditions. He said that the seniors “wore pants on Senior Night. Like the pinstripe pants on Senior Night. But sadly afterwards, you know we haven’t gotten back to it.” Dollar hopes that the new coach, Chase Young, will “bring in a new culture and a lot of traditions that we have not previously seen.”
Caden Young ’25, another player on the team, has further insight on these new traditions. For starters, there is going to be a tunnel for every home game leading from the weight room onto the court. Young said, “The entrance will be a bigger deal than it was before.” To build more culture there will also be pictures and graphics hung on the walls. They will also start games with dimmed lights, music, and spotlights on the starting five players. He said the coach “has been brainstorming along with other coaches and players” about these new traditions.
Goalie and captain of the state-winning girls’ varsity soccer team, Abby Williams ’24, shared her secrets of how she and her teammates bond through traditions. She said they kickstart the season with a two-night retreat after the teams are formed.
Williams said this tradition has been going on since before she started in the program, “Every year we choose a new spot to go with the team. If someone has a lake house or a vacation house, it has always been a tradition for Roosevelt soccer.” She said, “People get really excited to meet each other for people that are new on the team. It’s a good chance for people to bond.”
At the end of each season during the week of playoffs they do spirit-themed practices, dressing as something different each day. Every week they also do secret buddies where they get an anonymous gift from another player. Williams explained, “That’s a big way to bond the team together. We do it on game day, so people get really excited.
On home game days, the players wear their jerseys to school and have team lunches, usually going to Chipotle or Starbucks, to talk about the game and their strategy for victory. Williams said, “I think it’s really important to meet up on the day of a game just to talk through our strategies. It’s also a good way to say good morning to everyone, make sure we see everyone before the game, make sure everyones in the right mindset to just get ready to play.”
As soccer has so many teams, they don’t do all their traditions together, however Williams said, “JV has their own captains that schedule their own team bonding, which is also really important because as a team you need to be able to bond. But we do also have all-program dinners.”
All of these traditions from each team build a sense of community within the teams. As Dodge said for some traditions, “It’s an opportunity for the team to gather outside of practice, meaning there’s no coaches around and it’s just sort of kids hanging out with other kids, which I think is cool.” Dollar added, “I think it just brings more bonding experiences and joy between all of us. You know, just to be able to have more memories and make us feel better about ourselves while we play.”
