What do you do before a game?

story by Bree Moore

Everyone always has a plan for after the game, but what do athletes and coaches do before a big game?

Emillie Murphy, senior cheerleader, is a new student here at Eudora High School. Her pre-game ritual is a little bit different than what she did back in Baldwin before a game.

Murphy gets ready before school to show her school spirit by getting her uniform ready to put on and putting on her makeup. As an underclassmen last year, she would go home and be lazy before a game. But now as a senior she wants to let her teammates and coaches know that she is ready take on the night.

She listens to her custom curated Pandora station to put herself in a “hype” mood but she also knows that it’s important to bond with her team before a game.

As soon as Murphy steps on the track that surrounds the football field, she starts to get nervous and different things start running through her mind. Running through the routine before a game takes all those thoughts away because she knows that her team is right there to support her.

“I love how excited you get. The adrenaline and nerves you get just thinking about how that game will play out and who you think will win,” Murphy said.

With each different sport it takes a different mindset to get ready for a big game.

Cassie Stout is a junior on the EHS Dance Team and is very dedicated to perfecting her craft. Before a game, she likes to run through her dances to know that she is fully prepared for her halftime performance. But occasionally she likes to have a little fun by listening to “Cheap Thrills” with her team.

“I love this because it makes me want to dance and entertain people,” Stout said.

Stout always gets ready at her own house preparing her makeup and putting on her uniform in order to focus independently on preparing her personal game mindset. Something that has really changed for Stout from freshman year to junior year is that now she is more prepared for the games. She gets there early and stays focused. Before every game, Stout and the other dancers bond as a team by participating in a top-secret team ritual they call “JCB”.

“Our chant has never been told and will never be told because it is something that we enjoy as a team,” Stout said.

As students, we all at some point have wondered what a coach does before a game. What do they do to prepare themselves for a night of football?

Coach Durkin is very on top of things before a game but always makes time to show that he is ready to win. Before every game Durkin always runs around the school to get his adrenaline going, which he says helps him calm himself down before a stressful night. To get him energized for a game he listens to AC/DC because it’s one of his favorite bands. From the time school is out to the time the game starts, Durkin likes to relax and watch film, to tell the boys what they can improve on. Durkin rarely gets nervous, and prefers to concentrate instead on getting the equipment ready to go so it is ready by game time.

“You know I really hardly ever get nerves, no nerves at all,” said Durkin.