After the weigh-in, senior Nitin Kukreja, who had been cutting weight all day in preparation for his wrestling match, will find a quiet corner to eat a snack. While eating, he goes over his strategy for the match until the team arrives. Kukreja is captain of the Wrestling team, so after leading the team through warmups, he enjoys unwinding and having fun with his teammates until the match begins. 

“Before the match, I check in at the desk, come to the edge of the mat and kneel for a second and think,” Kukreja said. “Then I get up and walk to the mat and we [begin] wrestling. It's a lot of being present and thinking [about] what I'm gonna do [and] how I'm gonna move in.”

Kukreja is also on the Cross Country team and explains how, for both races and wrestling matches, he gets into the right mindset through a routine — for cross country, this consists of a nap during the bus ride to the race. The right mentality, he explains, is essential to being focused and having fun during matches and races. 

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Likewise, sophomore and Varsity Soccer player Ruhi Kotwal uses routine to overcome pre-game anxiety. Before the game, she puts her hair up into a ponytail and ties her pre-wrap, a thin, protective foam, as a headband around her head. Kotwal’s meal of choice before a game is an omelet, banana and toast. On the way to the game, she enjoys blasting upbeat music, especially 2010s hits like “Party in the U.S.A.” by Miley Cyrus, in the car in order to energize herself and enter the right mindset during the ride, which she believes is crucial to playing her best. 

LIke Kotwal, Kukreja explains that the right mindset is essential to performing well, particularly in sports like cross country and wrestling, where the very premise of the sport involves being uncomfortable. Without mental preparing for the discomfort of a race or his opponent’s efforts to pin him in a match, Kukreja believes that handling both the mental and physical challenges of the sport are impossible. Kotwal agrees, explaining that having faith in her own abilities is crucial when trying to be successful in a game. 

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“When I first got into the top [club] team, I was not confident about how good I was and I would always go into a game thinking, ‘I'm not going to do well,’ and that's why my outcome was so bad,” Kotwal said. “Now, I’ve started to become more confident with the way I play. And so going into a game, saying, ‘I've played soccer for a long time — I know what I'm doing’ and just being content with the way you play is really important.”

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In contrast, senior and Varsity Field Hockey player Tanisha Pulla doesn’t believe that individual mental preparation compares to the support she gains from her teammates, especially on days when escaping pre-game pressure and adopting a level-headed mindset is challenging. She attributes this to the fact that she has only ever played field hockey at school, and has therefore always had the MVFH community to help her adopt the right mindset before games. 

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“It's nice to have other people to rely on,” Pulla said. “If you're feeling off, you could go to somebody and ask them for advice on what to do or look for reassurance [that] you're not doing such a bad job.’”

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Kukreja explains that he, too, experiences the occasional off-day and also relies on his teammates to push him forward, be it from a technical, physical or mental standpoint. Kukreja’s preferred strategy for off days, however, is to reduce them as much as possible. 

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“The secret is consistency — if you stick to a routine, you minimize those off days, and when they do happen, you just find a way to get back to that routine,” Kukreja said. “Even if I had a bad day at school, I've been in my head or I argued with my parents right before I stepped in the room, I get in there, start warming up, moving around and talking to my teammates, and then that feeling goes away.”

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Kukreja stresses that, regardless of how he is feeling, he goes to competitive events to have fun. Similarly, in difficult moments, Pulla takes the pressure off of herself and her teammates by reminding herself that she plays the game not just for the competition, but for the enjoyment and love for the sport itself.

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“Taking a step back and remembering that it's only one game and you can really only do what you can do, I think that's what's really important,” Pulla said. “You especially [have] to remember that you can rely on other people as well, that it doesn't have to be all up to you.”