There’s an element in sports in which many participate. It can be anything, including the common, less hygienic, rewearing unwashed clothing during games, sticking a wad of gum to your hat during baseball games and wearing or carrying charms with you during games.

Superstitions are among the most prevalent elements in sports. What many people don’t think of when talking about superstitions are the pregame rituals that players do.

For men’s basketball’s junior center Kenny Lawson Jr., superstitions are fairly new to his sports experience. Lawson didn’t have any superstitions or set pregame rituals in high school, but his freshman year, he began polishing his shoes before games, which is now something he does before every game.

“My freshman year, a lot of guys talked about my shoes because I never really bought a lot of shoes, except for one pair, so before games I would kinda just do it as a joke, and it kinda turned into something I do before every game,” Lawson said.

For women’s golf senior Maureen White, coming to college caused her to lose one of her superstitions. While in high school, White would polish her clubs the night before a tournament in her laundry room. She no longer does that, but has others.

During her warm-ups before tournaments, White likes to practice on the putting green and at the course’s driving range.

“I like to putt first and then hit balls,” she said.

White also uses a new sleeve of golf balls for each day of the tournament and marks her balls the morning of the tournament before she leaves for the course.

While she did lose one superstition when she came to Creighton, she gained a new one.

“Before I tee off, [Business junior] Maggie Kersenbrock chooses the ball I tee off with,” she said.

Club volleyball senior Andrew Baumgartner has a more unique superstition. Before games, he eats honey, pouring it straight into his mouth from the bottle.

“I’ve been doing that since high school for any sports, for like tennis, basketball, but for volleyball I just kinda went with it,” he said.

Prior to a game in high school, Baumgartner needed energy but he didn’t have any sports drinks. What he did have was honey.

“It gave me the energy that I needed to play that day, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is pretty good. It tastes good,’ and so I basically eat some every day before I play,” he said.

Superstitions are everywhere in sports, and they play an important role. Besides making athletes feel more confident, they allow fans to be a part of the games they watch. Fans will flip their hats inside out to help their team rally late in the game, wear the same jersey every game or even perform the same ritual prior to every game, fearing that any change will cause their team to lose.

In sports, superstitions are as many and as varied as the athletes themselves – and are almost as important.