Defensive and offensive lineman Ansu Perez (11) recalls the final football game before CIF playoffs during his sophomore year at La Costa Canyon High School (LCC) — a game rich in tradition. Like other games against the rival school, the theme was black-out. TPHS students dressed in all black while LCC students stood in their student section in a sea of white. The Falcons were victorious, taking home a 27-17 win.

“I remember when we got back, we listened to music, and the bus stopped at In-n-Out after we won the LCC game,” Perez said. “When we get back in the locker room, every time we won a game, one teammate, Tristan Cornell (‘24), would always do the worm, and it would always get us all hype. We all loved it, and it was always a team tradition.”

The school’s sports teams participate in rituals and traditions that shape team identity and culture, creating a tight-knit family of athletes. These traditions highlight skill and character while celebrating causes both on and off the field. Head varsity football coach and physical education teacher Scott Ashby has coached in the program for 34 years. He leads one of the longest-standing team traditions, the Senior Cabinet, which dates back to 1991.

“Before the start of the season, the team and coaches vote on seven seniors for this cabinet [that acts as] the leadership of our team,” Perez said. “The seniors have meetings every year with the coaches about how they want the year to look like and our slogan for the year.”

The Senior Cabinet fosters a sense of family, as upperclassmen mentor younger players on the team. For example, seniors are “grouped with younger kids” so that sophomores and juniors on varsity “learn from the seniors” during team lifts. This year’s varsity football team slogan is “Fight, bleed, fight.”

“Every year, when we select the cabinet,” Ashby said. “Watching their faces and the pride they take in being, that is something that lasts with me all the time.” 

The varsity football team also implements a set of traditions before games, such as coming together for team meals every Friday. Right before kickoff, the team descends the stadium stairs — a tradition since 1996 — through the crowd and, more recently, walks the Foote Steps, which they also take when practicing on the field.

“When we walk into the stadium, there’s the Foote Steps, and we touch it as we go and remember a young man who lost his life to drunk driving,” Ashby said. 

The Foote Steps are a short set of stairs leading into the football stadium, dedicated to Jeffery Foote, a former football player at the school. These traditions nurture a sense of unity among the players and remind them of the team’s history and values. 

“[Traditions] have really benefited us, as we have a better connection with each other, which helps us understand how we play and what’s going on in and outside of football,” Perez said.

Besides the football team, the school’s lacrosse program also has its own traditions. The boys varsity lacrosse team participates in traditions depending on the day of the week.

“We do Monday Miles every Monday during the season at the end of practice [and] Tank Top Thursday where everyone wears tank tops to our team lifts on Thursdays,” Reid Habas (12), an attack and midfield on the varsity lacrosse team, said. “My freshman year, we ran the Monday Mile after a very difficult practice, and because one person decided they wanted to go away from the tradition and walked part of the mile — missing the time cutoff we needed to make — the whole team had to run another one immediately.  Since then, nobody has ever done that and everyone finishes the mile before the time limit.”

After practice, the players meet on the falcon in the center of the field, which they call “the mothership.” 

“We also have a tradition of honoring our teammate, a child who died from cancer named Jose Montaño, who was an honorary teammate throughout his battle, by running a 5k every year and wearing a sticker on our helmets for the Friends of Jaclyn program, which connected him to our team,” Habas said.

Friends of Jaclyn pairs children with pediatric or other childhood cancers with sports teams to raise awareness through an “adoption” program, which the school’s boys lacrosse team, among other universities and high schools, participates in. The team also participates in community service once a month, such as food banks, Habitat for Humanity, or toy drives during Christmas. These traditions not only serve as a way to bond current players, but also act as a “connection to those past players” that participated in the school’s lacrosse program.

“The purpose of our traditions as a team is to hold on to the values we hold as a team and that our Coach, Jono Zissi, has instilled in us since the time we joined the team,” Habas said.

Similarly, the varsity girls lacrosse team participates in bonding activities for teammates, such as creating goodie baskets and posters for seniors on Senior Night.

“On senior night, you get assigned a senior and make a poster for them and make a little goodie basket for them,” varsity defense and midfielder Kylie Clark (10) said. “Last year’s theme was princess and each senior got designated a princess. We get gifts like snacks or candy or energy drinks and stuff like that, just like any little goodies that they liked.”

On game days, the lacrosse players highlight their team spirit in Sharpie-ed athletic tape and smiley faces. 

“We’ll wrap [athletic tape] around our wrist, and … we all write ‘Fam’ on it… I would write my number on it and encouraging little messages,” Clark said. “It differs between each person. [Players] write things that inspire [them] or quote. But we also always make sure to put a little Sharpie smiley face on our leg, usually around the knee area.”

The girls’ lacrosse team considers themselves a “Fam” — as written on their athletic-tape wrist wristbands — and for many, joining a sports team means finding a family. After games, they celebrate by listening to “Hot Wings,” from the movie “Rio,” among other songs on their shared playlist.

“We’re able to bond over [traditions] and obviously cherish the things that we collect over time,” Clark said. “I know a few people on the team like to collect their wristbands and just keep them for memorabilia because lacrosse is more than just what happens on the field. It’s everything off the field too. We truly are like a family and like sisters to one another.”

The girls’ lacrosse team also participates in Morgan’s Message, a national non-profit organization dedicated to reducing the stigma around mental health in sports. Every year, the team holds a game dedicated to Morgan’s Message. 

“Everybody would put teal ribbon in their hair to commemorate Morgan, [who was] a collegiate lacrosse player at Duke University, and that committed suicide because of mental health issues,” Clark said. “[Morgan’s Message] is about mental health and spreading awareness about mental health, especially in women’s sports.”

Their bows reference Morgan’s love for the color teal. Morgan’s Message is also a club at this school, run by club president Audrey Davidson (12), who is also a member of the girls varsity lacrosse team.

“At the end of the day, the more bonded we are together, the better we’ll perform,” Clark said. “Being closer off the field translates to having each other’s backs on the field.”