After over a year of virtual isolation, student-athletes at SHS are ecstatic for the return of team bonding opportunities to boost their respective team’s overall chemistry and compatibility. With SHS rules put in place last year to cooperate with pandemic guidelines, no team activities outside of school were permitted. This year, those restrictions have been lifted and teams are excited to get back into their most cherished team traditions.

Imagine yourself, surrounded by colanders of pasta, countless loaves of garlic bread, and your favorite teammates — that’s a pasta party summed up. Whether they are homemade or catered, pasta parties are a great way to fuel up and share laughs with your team. Typically, pasta parties are held the night before a game to generate positivity and hype up the team for game day. Without their absence last school year, team chemistry just wasn’t the same.

  “[The team chemistry] is a lot better and a lot stronger this year. Because of pasta parties, everyone is friends and we can bond over more than just the sport,” says junior Kelly Granatino, a defenceman on the SHS varsity field hockey team. Granatino also stated that she considers members of the SHS field hockey program to be her, “friends, rather than just teammates.”

Senior Ainsley Routh, captain of the SHS varsity field hockey team, similarly stated, “These people are my genuine friends,” agreeing that pasta parties enhance the dynamic of the team and make everyone closer on a more personal level, on and off the turf. It’s evident these team bonding practices hold importance in not just team spirit, but also team performance, with the girls’ varsity field hockey team, a staple participant of team-bonding practices at SHS, excelling in their league with an impressive record thus far. 

In addition to pasta parties, many teams engage in dress-up days. The SHS varsity girls’ volleyball team, for example, has “black-out” days, when all members of the team join together and wear all black outfits on the day of a big game. 

“I love dress up days and it shows that we’re a team off the court as well,” says varsity volleyball captain senior Sarah Dorgan.

“[Dress up days] get people hyped to play their best and it’s a fun way to start the morning seeing all your teammates dressed up,” says Routh.

A simple pasta dinner or dress-up day can change team dynamic drastically. These traditions transform teams from a group individual players to a united front, working together seamlessly to generate positivity and success on and off the field. For a school rooted in community involvement and cooperative unity, it seems the return of team bonding traditions will work effectively to bring the SHS community glimpses of familiar pre-pandemic normalcy back into today’s routine.