By Joseph Chaves and Rianna Overton

Cover photo by Tom Baxter
From football to basketball to wrestling, no two sports are exactly the same, and no two hype-up methods are either. In any sport, the ultimate goal before a game is for the players to adequately prepare themselves. The proper hype-up technique can do wonders for a player’s performance–and for the scoreboard. 

Joseph Chaves, an Arundel High School wrestler, has his own way of preparing himself, and it all starts with weigh-ins. Weigh-ins are a crucial component of wrestling. If a player is overweight, even by the smallest ounce, they aren’t allowed to wrestle. To make sure he’s losing weight in a healthy way, Chaves’ diet consists of fruits, greens, some protein, and a little bit of carbs.

“Before weigh-ins, I don’t put anything in my body that would make me gain weight or wouldn’t help me make weight,” he said. “I try to lose as much water weight as I can.”

Chaves said that once he makes weight, he goes back to eating and drinking as normal.

“After that, I zone out into my own world and start warming up and focus on the moves that I want to work on to get that win.” Chaves’ routine has paid off; his record for the 2016-2017 wrestling season is 33-11.

Arundel basketball player Rianna Overton has a very different hype up routine for before her games. Prior to her away games, Overton likes to eat rice and listen to music on the bus before warm-ups.

“But before my home games, I’d typically go to Subway and then watch the JV team play before I go back into the locker room to get dressed. We usually either listen to High School Musical or just hype-up music to help us get into game mode,” she said.

During the 2016-2017 season, Overton played on the junior varsity team. Their skills and preparation rewarded them with an 8-12 record.

Parker Watts, an Arundel varsity football player, described what his team does on game days: “On the day of the game, we have a pre-game meeting where our coaches would give us a pep talk and Coach Mark tells us to play our own game and to overcome adversity.”

Afterwards, Watts’ team starts to get ready. They listen to music in the locker room while the coaches start to make a game plan.

According to Caleb Chaves, an Arundel football player on the junior varsity team, his team’s hype-up routine isn’t too different from Watts’.

“We just pretty much just listen to music and get hype in the locker room,” he said.

What athletes do after their events can differ from what they do before them. For Joseph Chaves, a match’s conclusion means a time to help his teammates warm up and to cheer for them.

“I also just like to eat, but I also make sure that I’m hydrated because hydration is key,” he said.

Overton replied with a similar answer. “After my games, if the varsity boys are playing, I like to watch their games. If they’re not, I like to hangout with my teammates, crack jokes, and eat,” she said. “I usually think about what I did well during the game and what I could have done better.”