Maya Cody is a junior at Berkeley High School who plays soccer, and her favorite pregame snack is apples and peanut butter. Her sister introduced her to it, and the snack soon became her favorite to eat before games. “It’s super nutritious and always makes me feel good before I play soccer,” Cody said, “I like to cut (my apple) into 10 pieces,” she also added. While having exactly 10 slices is important to Cody, she doesn’t do it for any superstitious reasons. “I just love it,” she explained. This specific ritual makes her feel physically prepared for soccer matches, and it also gives her a routine to help de-stress before games.
Farah Disston is a senior at BHS who plays flag football. Her favorite pregame snack is any fruit that is cold and crunchy, but specifically green grapes. As a fruit, Disston said green grapes are not too heavy and don’t make her feel weighed down, but the sugar also provides fuel. Green grapes are also a good luck charm for her, “I think like one time I had green grapes before, and we won or I played well. So I was like, superstition, and so now I just eat them,” Disston said. “I don't have a specific number of grapes I'll eat, but I always eat green grapes. I don’t eat red grapes,” she said, elaborating on her grape-eating tradition.
Calder Corson is a junior at BHS who plays soccer. Some of his favorite foods to eat before games are scrambled eggs, toast, and berries. “It provides me with both carbs and protein to power me for my games,” Corson shared. Additionally, right before games, he eats strawberries and raspberries because of a video he saw on TikTok that stated that they are a good and healthy energy source. He typically tries to eat a meal around two to three hours before matches, so he has fully digested his food but is still fueled up and ready to play the best he can.
Lucy Graham, a freshman at BHS who plays water polo, likes to eat goldfish, popcorn, oranges, and Motts fruit gummies before her games. These snacks are a connection to her childhood as a water polo player, and have become an integral part of her pregame routine. “I started playing water polo when I was around 10, and all the parents would bring snacks, and all the snacks are kind of like that,” she explained. Eating these snacks has stuck with her throughout her years playing water polo, and now they help her focus before playing.