Camryn Ragland ’18

At the end of the last football practice before the homecoming game, AJ Konstanty ’20 was putting his cleats in his bag and taking off his helmet when the captains told the team that they had to shave their heads into mohawks over the weekend. That Saturday, Konstanty went to his barbershop to brand himself with a mohawk and a Staples block “S” signifying his loyalty to the team.
Being on a sports team brings students together with the goal of victory, but it also creates an atmosphere of comradery. As teams progress in their seasons, some unify with traditions. Like the football team, boys’ and girls’ soccer, girls’ and boys’ lacrosse, as well as girls’ track and field also embrace crazy hairstyles for the FCIAC and state tournaments.
“Shaving our heads brings the team together because the players themselves shave each other’s hair making it a bonding experience,” Chris Martenson ’18, boys’ soccer co-captain, said. “And it makes us more united since we all get mohawks together, something that most players would not get otherwise.”
This tradition for the boys’ soccer team has been in place for many years. “Our coach, who played for Staples years ago, remembers the same tradition,” Timmy Liles ’18, boys’ soccer player, said.
The girls’ soccer team started a tradition of getting their hair braided into cornrows in 2014 right before the beginning of the FCIAC tournament. That year, the team won the FCIAC championship and credited their success to the cornrows. This tradition has been in place ever since. “We’ve had this tradition since my freshman year, and we hope to win another medal with cornrows on our heads,” Anna Sivinski ’18, girls’ soccer co-captain said.
Though many teams do have long standing traditions, the ones that don’t often wish that they did.
Henry Haas ’19, cross country runner, loves these traditions and wants to see them find a place in his team’s postseason. “The varsity cross country runners are all very close, but it would be good to have a way to integrate upperclassmen and underclassmen,” Haas said. “I feel like having a team bonding tradition like mohawks would be a good way of doing this.”
The girls’ volleyball team takes a different route in their postseason traditions by showing spirit in their socks.
“For postseason games, our team likes to wear really fun socks,” Carlie Darefsky ’18, girls’ volleyball captain, said. “Although it might seem like a small thing, it’s a great way to lighten the pressure of these really big and stressful FCIAC/state matches.”
Whatever the teams decide to do, the student body certainly enjoys the display of the athletes donning their latest team bonding creation before the big games.
“I think it’s cool that teams come together by getting mohawks or cornrows,” Logan Varsano ’19 said. “It shows how good our sports teams are for making it into the postseason and how close they are.”