Each term at Groton, we prepare to face our rival St. Marks in athletics by celebrating the week before with what is called “spirit week.” Each day of spirit week we have a theme for how to dress. It’s often a topic, idea, or person to dress like, culminating in a “Groton theme” on the Saturday of the games versus St. Marks.
This week as the email popped into our inboxes to unveil the themes of the week, one day caught my eye. Wednesday read “Dress up with your afternoon activity,” and my mind immediately started racing to what my hockey team could cohesively throw together to win the grand prize of a team “feed,” a prize of food. Throwing around the idea of wearing our full gear, (thankfully vetoed due to smell), and wearing our typical gameday suits, the day before came and we had nothing. Sitting in the locker room after practice Tuesday night, we knew we needed something quick. Scrambling, someone tossed out the idea that we copy the Philly Flyers walkout outfits from their stadium series game. They wore the full grey outfits from Rocky Balboa’s iconic training scene, towels wrapped around their neck, black beanies, and hands taped. What could be a better walkout for the day, and our game, than that?
Our captains quickly spread the word so everyone could gather the necessary materials and prepare for the next day. The next morning as I prepared for the day, I threw on the instructed grey sweatsuit, towel around my neck, and taped my hands. I stepped back for a second realizing how odd I could look walking around school looking fully prepared for hand-to-hand combat, but I was confident my team would do the same. As I shuffled out of my dorm towards the dining hall I began seeing grey figures popping out of dorms and making their way to the dining hall, looking perhaps the least unusual of the team themes.
We didn’t, however, come together as a team until roll call where each team made an announcement vying for first place. We gathered a sea of greys and sent out one of our captains to prepare the music. Rocky theme music blaring, we jogged up the forum stairs emulating the iconic Philadelphia Rocky scene one by one. After taking our team picture, all we had left to do was wait to see who would win the day. Unlike Rocky, we came out on top.