Getting in the zone before game time can be different for everybody, may it be in sports, school, work, or even during lull periods. Being productive and reaching optimum concentration is a process that everyone experiences differently, and this is no foreign concept to Lasallian student athletes.
Pre-game day rituals and routines are common among athletes, physical and mental sports alike. Student athletes Michelle Cobb of the Lady Spikers, Matthew Custodio of the Men’s Football Team, and Lovely Avanceña of the Lady Jins discuss their game day routines and how it can make a significant difference on how they step up to the plate during moments that count.
Proper mindset
Cobb would make sure to wake up in the right mood on game day itself. She cites that waking up right on an important day helps her relax her mind of anything that might spoil her play. Just by having a mindset of simply remembering the obstacles she had to go through to get to where she is today is a great push to do her very best in every game she plays.
“Everyday, coach Ramil [De Jesus] would always remind us to work harder day by day. He reminds us of the hardships we have gone through to get this far, and I think that is what I put as my mindset, and my drive in every practice and game.”
Meanwhile, Lady Jins team captain Avanceña wants nothing short of a focused and cohesive team when it comes to game day. She makes it a point to have a team with a common goal, and to achieve this, she does her best to motivate all of her teammates, especially when it seems like one of them is missing a beat.
“Huwag kayo ma-pressure, or ‘wag kayong kabahan, kasi pag kinabahan kayo, ‘yun yung nakakatalo sa inyo,” the team captain shares a little excerpt from her pep talks. [Don’t be pressured, don’t feel nervous, because that’s what’ll beat you.]
On the other hand, the feeling of pressure and nervousness is a combination familiar to most athletes, especially on game days. And like all other athletes, Custodio has different ways to deal with it. “I would always play relaxing music to get me relaxed and composed, to get rid of pressure and nervousness especially during big games.”
Nonetheless, despite the feeling of nervousness moments before a game, once he steps on the pitch, the football player’s apprehensions disappear. Even if an outside factor unrelated to the sport is bothering him, Custodio tells that this actually pushes him harder to do better. “That’s if we can turn the anger or stress into a positive way.”
Pre-game rituals
Before any game, Avaceña pulls the strength she needs from prayer and family. She always finds a moment of downtime and just talks to God for guidance and protection. After which, she would call her father, who is multitudes away in Cagayan de Oro, but is always supportive of her and her achievements.
“Si Papa, siya yung support lagi. Tapos nasa province siya, nandito ako, so tinatawagan ko nalang siya before every game day.” [Papa always supports me. And since he’s in the province, and I’m here, I call him before every game day.]
Long before Cobb even stepped foot in La Salle, the Lady Spikers already had a ritual of their own. “During game day, we usually do aerobics as one of our [workouts] in the morning, and we also do yoga before the game. The team has been doing it even before I got to La Salle, it’s been in the team’s system ever since.”
Cobb notes the importance of their rituals, for it not only gives them a chance to compose themselves before playing, but also helps them relax their minds of any sort of problems they are facing.
Additionally, as a student-athlete, Cobb values time management in order to balance her sport and academics. “I always make sure I would allot a specific time for my academics. Either the day before the game or after, in order to not get distracted during the game day itself.”
As one of the rookies for this year’s UAAP season, having a great relationship with one’s teammates is important, especially for a sport like football. Custodio tells that the team always meets an hour before the designated call time given by the coach, just to spend time with one another.
Aside from bonding with the team before every game, he admits that he does not really have any pre-game rituals. Instead, he would always slide his hands through the grass of the field they are about to play on every time, “I personally don’t have any pre-game rituals, but I have this habit of sliding my hands on through the grass before we warm up. I must have seen Messi do it or something.”
The student-athletes donning the Green-and-White all experience the short moments prior to game time differently. They may have routines or rituals, or they may not. Despite their differences in preparation, all athletes are out to give their all and take home a victory.
