Amid a season full of goalkeeper changes, turnovers, two top-20 victories and five ACC defeats, there has been little continuity for Duke head coach Kerstin Kimel, a rarity for the woman who has built the program from scratch since arriving in Durham in 1996. One aspect, though, will always remain constant for Kimel’s squads—their pregame introductions.
Unlike players on most teams, the Blue Devils do not run out exactly when their names are called. In fact, senior attack Hayley Shaffer and junior All-American midfielder Maddie Crutchfield always sprint to the rest of their teammates far after either of their names is introduced over the PA system as part of the starting lineup. The same goes for every player, as the team forms an alley for the athletes to run out in twos together following a choreographed handshake.
Most fans are confused by Kimel’s tactic, wondering why the Blue Devils choose to do it. For Kimel, though, it was an easy answer.
“Our feeling is that it’s going to be a whole team effort on the field to compete and win a game,” Kimel said. “It’s been something we’ve done forever, and it’s supposed to be symbolic of the fact that we win and lose as a team, not as individuals.”
Unfortunately for Duke, though, it has had to learn that lesson the hard way this season. The Blue Devils sit 6-6 overall and 0-5 in conference play, largely due to a lack of complete performances on both sides of the field.
But there has been progress in recent games, as Duke upset then-No. 16 Elon 10-9 before suffering a heartbreaking loss to No. 11 Syracuse by the same score. Younger players such as newly-appointed starting goalkeeper Gabbe Cadoux and midfielders Callie Humphrey and Catherine Cordrey have begun adjusting to the collegiate level, and the Blue Devils have improved as a result.
The freshmen on the team all have to go through the same adjustments to get used to the pregame introduction process, which starts out rough, according to multiple players.
The actual running out does not confuse the players—the tricky part is the handshakes that come before they join the rest of their teammates for the national anthem.
Although there is definitely a learning curve for some of the athletes, the pregame handshakes are something that the players have come to treasure.
“There’s certain things as a coach that I think that you need to have a hand in and control and certain things that I think are really important for them to feel like they own, and that just happens to be one of them in our program,” Kimel said.
The athletes have taken the freedom Kimel has given them and run with it ever since. Some routines are rooted in tradition, others are practiced, tweaked and altered ever so slightly as the games go on, and there are even improvisational themes for certain games, which Shaffer noted as being challenging but humorous.
Shaffer and Crutchfield’s handshake is one that has been passed down throughout the years, ever since she learned it from the previous player who sported Crutchfield’s No. 23—All-American defender Taylor Virden, a senior when Shaffer arrived on campus. But due to the tradition of the routine between Nos. 23 and 28, Virden brought Shaffer under her wing and taught her the pregame handshake, which Shaffer did the year after with Crutchfield.
“You hit sticks with your right hand, and then you switch—you put your stick in your other hand,” Crutchfield said. “Then you grab [hands with your partner] with your right hand and then hit them to the ground and run out.”
However some other duos on the team are in for a rude awakening in the first exhibition game of the season, like All-American senior defender Maura Schwitter and her partner were as freshmen. Schwitter described the process as similar to being thrown into the deep end of a pool before learning how to swim, as her and her partner—fellow senior defender Isabelle Montagne—were caught completely off-guard, much to the delight of the upperclassmen at the time.
That first introduction comes as a culture shock for the freshmen, who could be seen practicing in their dorms afterward, Schwitter said.
This year, though, Shaffer assumed her captain duties by notifying the previously unsuspecting freshmen of what to expect prior to their scrimmages in the fall and winter.
“We definitely make it an effort to make the first game as [stress-free] as we can,” Shaffer said. “We tell them the gist of it, but it’s impossible not to be a little surprised when you get out there and you see all the upperclassmen with their crazy routines.”
Soon after, like others both before and after them, Schwitter and Montagne found a routine they fell in love with, making minute changes as the games progressed to find the perfect combination.
Regardless of all the individual handshake preparations, Kimel knows that the message has gotten across, whether through tradition or trial by fire.
“They have fun with it. I think we can all take ourselves a little too seriously sometimes,” Kimel said. “‘Team first’ is one of the core values of our program, and that’s a physical, actual, symbolic gesture of that core value.”
And for those who are a little more curious, keep an eye out for next year to see whether Crutchfield opts to continue the same pregame tradition with the new No. 28 after Shaffer finishes up her eligibility at the end of the season.
“It’s one of those things where being a new freshman on the team, you’re just looking for moments to connect with people,” Crutchfield said. “Having Hayley and that tradition to step into was really cool and such a small thing that helped me integrate into the team. It doesn’t seem like much, but it was important as a freshman.”
This article was updated to correct erroneous spelling and a misidentification in an image no longer on the story. The Chronicle regrets the errors.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.