As we continue our series on how teams keep things fresh in the winter, we look into a winter tradition from the women Grand Valley State University (GVSU) – the ritual of "the bead jar."
There is something especially brutal about winter training in college—the stressors of school and training intersect without the relief that a good row on the water can bring. The team's long-standing ritual, a winter stress relief mechanism that transforms into springtime motivation, takes the form of a mason jar of multicolored beads sitting in the GVSU erg room throughout the winter season.
In the first week of winter training her sophomore year, Jordan Crandall's teammates gave her a handful of tiny teal beads. When she felt the stress of exams and homework, 2ks and lifting piling up, instead of succumbing she could simply toss a bead - or two or a bunch - into the jar in the erg room when the stress was too much.
"We go to the craft store and get tiny little beads and fishing line," she said. "Each girl has a unique color—and everyone knows each other's colors. When you have a bad day or a bad erg piece, or come to practice and just don’t want to be there—you throw beads in. It can be one or two beads—I've seen girls pour half their container in. It's for those days when you just feel like 'I'm over this!'"
The beads blend in the jar, calling to mind the mixture of the emotions felt through the season. It's not a space for judgment, however. The girl who puts in the least beads does not win, or who dumps the most lose; it's a way to check-in on one another.
"If you are having a rough week and someone sees you pouring in a ton of beads, or if you are throwing beads in every week—we're concerned," says Crandell. "We're a team, a family; what we do is reach out to check in on our teammates. Are you tired, bogged down with school or work? We let her know she's not alone, because everyone has had a week like that."
The beads accumulate all winter in the jar, which then travels to Philadelphia with the women for the Dad Vail regatta—the first big championship of the spring, and one of their most important all season. The night before the heats, the women gather together in the hotel lobby with the jar and fishing wire to string together the bracelets they will wear for the remainder of the season. This is where the colors become important.
"As we are making the bracelets we are very aware of which color belongs to which girl," said Crandell. "I put the colors of my novice class together because those are the girls I have trained with consistently and they've seen me at all the points. Everyone knows who they are pulling for and what they are fighting for."
The beads are not the only winter training tradition maintained by the GVSU women. At the end of the fall season, the women are each assigned three teammates for whom they write down descriptive adjectives. All the adjectives are then combined and the team agrees upon a different color for each word. The women anonymously receive three ribbons that represent the adjectives (see photo) to tie on their water bottles, hang in their lockers, or pin to corkboards above their desks. It's a way to remind themselves of the qualities they possess, and the way their teammates see one another.
The team philosophy "push from the bottom and pull from the top" is embodied in the traditions; the team uses the positive to pull themselves up and the struggles to push harder. The motivations both external from the traditions and internal from the athletes seems to be working--the GVSU women won the D1 W8+ at Dad Vail last year, winning the women's points trophy and placing second in the overall points trophy.
Maybe there's something in the beads.
Does your team have a great winter tradition? How do you stay motivated for spring? Write into row2k!
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