Players and coaches at Stratford have pregame superstitions they must complete in order to feel completely ready to compete before a game. Whether the superstition is big, small, slightly strange, or completely weird, everyone’s superstition is important for their own performance during a sporting event. Here are a few of Stratford’s players and coaches superstitions:

Name: Coach Kate Blankenship

Sport: Head Girls Soccer Coach

Superstition: Always has shoelaces untied during games.

Name: Coach Jamie Dickey

Sport: Head Boys Basketball Coach, Varsity Football Offensive Coordinator

Superstition: Dickey must always call his best friend sometime during a game day to talk.  He normally eats a Chicken Bacon and Swiss sandwich with a Mountain Dew from Arby’s.  If it’s a big game, Dickey wears a certain shirt, a tie, and a sports coat that his wife absolutely hates.

Name: Coach Ross Bridges

Sport: Varsity Football Defensive Coordinator

Superstition: Has to eat the same meal every Friday before a game.  This year he ate Moe’s before every game.  He ate a taco with cheese dip, a cup of water, and one of each of the extra dipping sauces.  He also wears the same clothes during every game.

Name: Alex Koplin

Grade: Senior

Sport: Varsity Football

Superstition: Goes home to take a nap, then drinks a bottle of Pedialyte.

Name: Brighten Donner

Grade: Senior

Sport: Varsity Boys Soccer

Superstition: Puts everything on left leg first (sock, shoe, shinguard). He never touches the field until it’s the start of the game. He also prays before he goes on the field.

Name: Mary Kathryn Hightower

Grade: Senior

Sport: Varsity Girls Soccer

Superstition: Puts the same dime in her right shoe until a loss. Once the loss happens, she changes the dime.

Name: Sean Grossnickle

Grade: Senior

Sport: Varsity Football and Soccer

Superstition: Before football games, Sean puts on his left knee pad, his left thigh pad, his right knee pad, and his right thigh pad, in that order. Next, he turns his football pants inside out and puts his belt in. He then puts on his left shoe, then his right shoe. Before soccer games, he puts on his athletic socks, tapes his shin guards to his shin, and puts his soccer socks over that, successively. Then, he puts on his left shoe and ties it, following his right shoe.

Name: John Michael O’Quinn

Grade: Junior

Sport: Varsity Football

Superstition: Before every home football game, John Michael goes to Chick-fil-A and gets an eight-count chicken nugget meal.  He listens to ACDC on the way to school.