As playoffs role around for fall sports, we are beginning to see many students with some absurd haircuts. What most students may be wondering is: “Why are these athletes getting these haircuts and what exactly do they mean?”

What most people know is that playoff cuts are a tradition for many sports from all three seasons of high school athletics. The true meaning behind them is all the same: team bonding. It’s like team dinners, playoff cuts are just another tradition that bring teams together. Those who don’t participate in athletics probably find this tradition to be idiotic. I think that if you’ve got a teammate who is willing to look silly in front of the entire school, then you’ve got a teammate who is willing to lay it all on the line for his team during a big game.

“The football team gets playoff cuts because it is great team bonding,” said senior football player Evan Lubben. “The experience with the whole team is really fun and this tradition has been going on for a while.”

“The soccer team gets playoff cuts because it is tradition,” quoted senior soccer player Lance Decker. “It’s a lot of fun and it gets us excited for the post-season.”

“In the past it’s been tradition for all of us to put three braids in our hair with pieces of green tinsel,” said junior volleyball player Elana Kavanaugh. “This year we’re doing braids again but we’re also dying a part of our hair pink.”

It sounds like each team has somewhat similar traditions. We don’t typically see female athletes participating in this tradition. However, each team’s traditions hold the same value to them. It’s a way for the team to bond and connect with each other. It’s also something that everybody is doing; one person isn’t just singled out. Some haircuts may be worse than others, but at the end of the day, everybody has a worse haircut than they did before.

“For some reason, these haircuts give us motivation to go farther in the playoffs,” said senior soccer player Lance Decker. “It’s something we do every year, and I could never see us not doing it.”

“In a way, the braids we put into our hair is a superstition we have,” quoted junior volleyball player Elana Kavanaugh. “We might lose if we don’t do it. This is the first year I’ve been a part of dying our hair, I think we all are using it as a bonding experience and a way to laugh at each other.”

“Well I think it’s funny,” said senior football player Evan Lubben, “because it gets us ready for playoffs. Everytime I look into the mirror and see my fresh cut, I can’t help but get hyped because it’s a constant reminder that it’s playoffs. We’ve been working so hard this whole season and now that we’re in the playoffs getting ready to make a long run, these haircuts are kind of a symbol of that long journey in a way.”

The meaning behind these haircuts is powerful–powerful enough to drive an entire team to victory. These haircuts not only represent the fact that it’s the postseason, but rather they represent all of the hard work these athletes have put into their sports. Sure, some of the haircuts may be absolutely ridiculous and might make you laugh when you look at them; however, something every student has to admit is that when he or she sees a person with a crazy haircut during this time of the school year, it is known that this athlete has put in countless hours to perfect his or her craft, and one can’t help but respect them for their efforts to bring victory to our school’s name.