Edina High School’s winter sports teams carry on many traditions passed down year to year in order to achieve success on a yearly basis.  No matter if it’s on the court, in the locker room, or on the bus, traditions are taken seriously to ensure excellence for the team.

Each team has very different traditions, varying from handing out a special jacket, to dancing to the song “Cat Daddy.”  Returning seniors from many different winter sports teams were asked the same question, “What are the traditions or superstitions your team carries on?”

Boys Hockey:

“We do a lot of weird stuff that probably shouldn’t be said on Zephyrus, but one thing I can think of is that after we win, Anthony Walsh always krumps to ‘Wild Boy’ and finishes it with a flip over a trash can,” said senior Matt Nelson.  Teammate Bo Brauer also said, “After the game, if we win, our coach Dick Blooston gives out the retro Edina jacket to the player who had the best performance and deserved it the most.”

Girls Hockey:

“Before every home game, we meet at the high school, grab our jerseys, and have a dance party in the parking lot. Typical songs we dance to are: ‘How Low Can You Go,’ ‘Girl on Fire,’ and ‘Cat Daddy.’  Also, before every period we have another dance party listening to ‘Jock Jams.’  When the YMCA part of the song comes on we all do the hand motions,” said senior Sarah Nielsen.

Girls Basketball:

“Before each game we always bang on lockers to get pumped up. On the bus home from away games we always sing a thank you song for the bus driver, followed by the school fight song, with the transition between the two being a solo,” said senior Mary Claire McGrory.

Comp Cheer:

Senior Julia Bolter said, “We are all extremely superstitious when talking about possible outcomes of our competitions – especially Nationals in Orlando, Florida. We always feel the need to knock on wood three times after talking about them. We even decorate our own blocks of wood to bring to Florida in February. We carry our wood around in our bags at all times, it’s pretty ridiculous.”

Dance Team:

“Before every performance we have one of the girls say a motivating story, usually about someone that is working harder than us.  Then we do a chant saying “da da da da dats what’s up” right before we go on,” said senior Brooke Scheerer.

Swimming and Diving:

According to senior Sean Satterthwaite, before each meet the swim and dive team releases several snapping turtles into the pool. Then, for warmup, they wrangle the turtles with their bare hands. The survivors build a fire in the locker-room using a pair of goggles, and they host a turtle BBQ, featuring arm-wrestling, beard-growing, and spear-fishing contests.  Although these traditions sound a bit fishy, Satterthwaite adds on saying, “After the meet, we always have cookies or brownies for the team to gorge on.”

Alpine Ski:

Senior Coleman Foley said, “One tradition we have is the pre race bagels, and the constant snacking.  On the way to every race we always have cinnamon sugar bagels.  Then, a lot of the varsity racers will go to the JV races and bring a bunch of food, so at the bottom of the hill everyone is snacking.  Cheese balls end up all over the hill as kids take them everywhere they go.”