AFTG from a D1 perspective PART 2
I've been brainstorming and talking to teammates and here's some more tidbits!
to reiterate, my sport isn't technically co-ed but men and women practice and compete together
illness: one goes down they all go down. my current coach freaks out whenever someone gets sick because he knows it spreads like wild fire. my old high school coach would yell at us to shut up if we were coughing during practice lolll (in a funny way I promise)
always hungry, always sore, always mentioning these two things (Kevin: "it shows that your working hard!" *he gets strangled by hangry teammates*)
twitching in your sleep. your muscles get so strung out some people get really twitchy in their sleep, esp men bc they usually have more muscle
fav gatorade colors and debates about them
Irrational anger/emotions during practice. When youāre exhausted and pushing your body to the limit, you are a lot easier to piss off. Even chill people will occasionally snap during practice (Renee? I want to see her yell at someone pls pls)
hyping each other up during lift. I know Dan and Matt def do this and probably all of Trojans. They get really into cheering when people get PRs.
Weird traditions before championships, I don't want to give away my own teams things but it could involve hair dying, braiding, hair cuts etc...
TEAM BRAIDERS: there's always that one girl who's really good at braiding and does all the girls hair. Lowkey I feel like it's Allison, she get's all the girlies looking good before each match. (I headcannon Nicky with longish hair I bet when they get along she braids his hair too)
The training room, ice bathes, heat packs, taping, cupping, etc... there's always those certain athletes that LIVE in the training room. I feel like Jean would be one of those people because of all his past injuries.
your teammates literally see you at your lowest, physically, emotionally it is what it is
while it's weird the Raven's dress the same at banquets (#cult), usually during travel to competitions you will dress the same as your team. we get warmups and matching sweatshirts, sweat pants, t-shirts etc and get clothing schedules we have to follow
I am a chronic forgetter of the clothing schedule, I feel like Seth was too. Nicky def rebels against it to wear his own clothes (ppl get in trouble for this all the time)
coach's sayings everyone quotes. the Foxes def call each other "maggots" or other things Wymack says, I feel like this extends to Kevin too, he definitely has some classic saying that are easy to mock
Lockerroom set up: the Foxes are unique but on the Trojans I bet there's a hierarchy of who gets what lockers based on seniority.
Stealing shampoo and conditioner is a huge thing that happens in the women's lockerroom if someone doesn't buy one of those big ass bottles for a communal supply.
feuds. Foxes got this to an extreme, but it's real life. sometimes the beef is so longstanding no one even knows how it started.
another thing about teams that Nora got pretty spot on is how they bring ppl together who wouldn't otherwise interact or be friends, this creates a lot of challenges but opportunities for growth (this is why Jean on the Trojans is going to be great, it's going to be a challenge for the Trojans to get along with him since he doesn't naturally fit and it's gonna be so interesting)
having to attend random athlete shit. sometimes they are such a waste of time, it drives me insane. maybe PSU has learned to kind of leave the Foxes alone but The Trojan's are definitely very community involved
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