Athletic teams at California Baptist University are close-knit groups that stick together like family, allowing each athlete to enjoy and develop fun traditions with their teammates while on the road and at home.
The women’s soccer and basketball teams are just two families within the CBU athletic programs that enjoy spending time together.
This season, the basketball team is composed mostly of new members and is currently in the process of creating new traditions.
On the other hand, the women on the soccer team are all well acquainted with each other and enjoy practicing the same traditions that have been developed over past seasons.
The soccer team enjoys engaging in some simple traditions such as dancing and singing.
These impromptu song and dance sessions occur not only while at games, but also while the team is traveling to away games.
As the team enjoys dancing and singing together, some talents other than soccer also appear.
“Bernie (Witz) is definitely the best singer on the team,” said Rachel Witz, freshman undeclared major and Bernie’s younger sister.
Audri Degraw, sophomore marketing major, attributed the title for the best dancer to her teammate Kelly Jenks. “(Jenks) is the best dancer out of all of us,” she said.
While the women on the soccer team already know each other well, the women’s basketball team is in the midst of getting to know each other and finding new traditions to fit the emerging personality of the whole group.
One way the team is getting to know each other is through sharing their life stories.
“The coaches decided that each week, one player would be responsible for sharing her story with the team as a way to help everyone get to know her better,” said Elise Shelton, senior public relations major.
Sharing testimonies is one way the women’s basketball team has grown closer, and they have also taken trips to the beach also help.
“During preseason, we would go to the beach every Saturday,” said Cassidy Mihalko, freshman business administration major.
Regardless of what kinds of traditions CBU’s athletic teams practice, it is safe to say that each team enjoys spending time together no matter what their location is: home or away.
