Every Friday afternoon, the Mount Vernon football team has the same ritual. Pregame position meetings, team meal, primer workout, and visualization sessions are all parts of the routine that brings the players together before kickoff. This prepares players, so by the time the team even steps on the field, they are mentally and physically prepared for success.
“We keep things simple,” said Preston Pedersen, Mount Vernon football’s assistant coach. “The routine helps everyone stay locked in. We know that nerves happen, and they are to be expected. One of the things that Coach Meester emphasizes in our program is ‘Faith over Fear’. He says, ‘fear is a liar.’” Pedersen emphasizes how fear is only a mentality, and he explains how its power only exists when we give it attention.
Pedersen explained that the football coaches want to shoot for perfection even though it isn’t attainable, but it leads to being excellent. The Mount Vernon football team has simple traditions that keep the players focused and confident.
But football isn’t the only team with pregame rituals. Whether it’s Friday night under the lights, Tuesday volleyball in the gym, or even cross country on the trails, Mount Vernon athletics has special traditions they do to get themselves in the right mindset, physically and mentally, before they perform.
Mount Vernon volleyball, for example, has special rituals they do to get themselves in the right mindset. “First, we always come together in the locker room, and we listen to hype music. Then we play spike ball out in the gym, stretch together around the high school, and then we come together to scream our song ‘Get Out of Your Mind,’” said Sophomore, Lexi Boren. “After that, we have our traditional Mustang song when we stand in a circle and clap along to the beat. We then run out onto the court to start our warmup for the game.” These blaring traditions helped hype up the team with confidence and pride. The Mount Vernon volleyball team ended their season by advancing to the quarterfinals in Xtreme Arena against the Western Christian Wolfpack.
However, the Mount Vernon Cross Country team has quieter traditions to prepare themselves before a meet. Their pre-race preparations focus on calmness, faith, and team confidence rather than loudness and noise. “Before every race we pray before we run. We do a stride out; then hold pinkies in a circle and pray around 10 minutes before the race,” said freshman Torie Johnson. These quiet and simple traditions help give the team confidence and faith before they line up for their race. The Mount Vernon girls cross country team finished their season third overall at the state meet in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
In addition, the boys’ cross country team also has important rituals that keep their confidence high and mind on the race. “We try to stay as locked in as possible on the race and not let the nerves get to us,” said freshman Ben Brinkmann. “We have a team talk about the race to come most of the time. The coaches give us a talk to help calm us and prepare us for the race.” These talks with their coaches build up their confidence and faith before they run. The Mount Vernon boys cross country team placed second at the state meet in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
Mount Vernon girls’ tennis focuses more on fun to their pregame traditions. “We just have fun with it and are always smiling and laughing,” sophomore Emily Schnoor said. “When some of us are playing and one of our teammates sees that we are getting frustrated or look frustrated, they will yell out ‘goldfish’. We yell out ‘goldfish’ because a goldfish can only remember things for up to three seconds, so this is basically us saying it’s okay and forget about it and move on to the next point.” These humorous rituals helped the team focus on the next point and take their mind off the mistakes. This raised their confidence and trust in themselves and their teammates. The girls tennis team ended their season with an impressive 10-1 record with extremely strong performances.
Each Mount Vernon fall sport has been highly successful throughout the fall season, hopefully this continues throughout the whole year. Overall, no matter the sport, each Mount Vernon team sport shares one thing in common, traditions that build Mustang pride and confidence before every competition.
