You’re a girls lacrosse player. It’s game day, and as you walk through the halls, someone tosses you a bag of Nerds Gummy Clusters and says it’s from your B-tag. With a gift like this, you’re ready to play your game later tonight!
A B-tag is someone who either gives or receives a gift to a teammate. Part of the tradition is that the person who is receiving the gift does not know who they are getting the gift from.
The idea of a B-tag comes from Coach Isabel Ward, who participated in this tradition when she was in high school.
“I remember on game days getting my present from B-tags, and it was the best start to game day,” said Coach Ward.
Coach Ward talked to captain and senior Kyleigh Duncan, and they agreed on bringing this new gameday tradition to St. Pius X.
“I really liked the idea of everybody pumping each other up,” said Duncan.
From there, Duncan spun a wheel of the players’ names and assigned the B-tags randomly. She wanted to match people up in this way to help form team bonding.
“Team bonding is really important. I’m big on teammates turning into friends and friends turning into teammates,” said Duncan.
While it is a great experience for the players, at times, it can be difficult to keep the identity of your B-tag secret from teammates (and remember when all of the games are!)
“There were three games in a row and I just bought stuff at the Roar Store, but I would forget to give it to my B-tag,” said Duncan.
Despite the few challenges, the team has found that this gameday ritual has brought them closer as a community.
“You get to celebrate your teammates and help lift them up and make them feel special on game days,” said junior captain Ashley Stephenson.
People outside of the team have also noticed this new way the lacrosse team hypes each other up.
“It makes the school aware of how supportive we are of each other,” said sophomore Parker Dykes.
With how close the team has gotten over the season, they plan on making B-tags a long-lasting tradition.
“I would like it to go on for the rest of the program,” said Duncan.
The girls finished their season 10-8 and 4-1 in the region. They look forward to carrying this tradition into the seasons to come.
