By Eden Barnes, staff writer
With the fall sports season coming to an end, many teams are trying to finish their season with a bang. This means the start of many fun playoff traditions that spark school spirit throughout River Hill. This time of year students see many teams dressing up and showing off their team apparel. One tradition that has been known to River Hill is the boy’s soccer teams dying their hair before playoffs. The team gets together to either bleach or buzz their hair into a wacky creation.
A successful ritual needs to be something out of the box, something that lifts people out of the everyday headspace and puts them in a game-ready mindset. Especially for the seniors, this “final hurrah” soccer ritual is important. Senior Will Gochar says, “Dying and cutting our hair is part of [our] soccer tradition going into playoffs. It shows commitment to the team and to each other. Once playoffs start, we play for each other knowing any game could be our last game together.”
From the spectator standpoint, the tradition can be seen as an “initiation”; however, Senior Kian Mbi says, “Many people see it as hazing and they have to dye their hair, but really it brings the guys closer as a team and as friends. It’s a tradition that originally started many years ago and all the seniors have passed down that torch for us I guess.” This annual tradition has been accompanied by multiple state titles.
For the players, it was a memorable aspect of playing a high school sport. Junior Jai Khanna states, “I think it’s great, the tradition has carried on for so long. We’re all gonna look back at the pictures of our hair and laugh about these good times and that’s what it’s all about.” Many of the players will take this tradition with them and remember it as a key aspect of their High School career.