Student athletes share how music plays into their pre-game routine
By Alexis Blue
The grass is warm to the touch and the white lines marking the bounds of the field are glowing as bright as the white jerseys of the Jacks as they roll out of the travel bus, each player with headphones on and their minds centered on the win to come. The silence from the scene is reflective of the laser focus of these athletes, but what plays in their headphones is anything but silent.
Humboldt student athletes may not agree on one favorite pre-game song, but they can agree on how important music is to their competition. Song choices not only vary from athlete to athlete, but for some, music is essential for attaining a game-ready mindset. Cam Timmons, a graduate student athlete in men’s basketball majoring in kinesiology, noted the role that music plays in his mindset towards competing.
“I feel music plays a big role, just in training and getting prepared for a game for me, because I like to tune out the world and all the excess noise,” Timmons said. “Just listening to music puts me into the zone.”
Timmons’ go-to artists for reaching this mentality are often Rod Wave or Drake, but he enjoys listening to a variety of music that matches his energy for the day. Songs like The Greatest and Already Won by Rod Wave are particularly meaningful to him. When asked what his personal walk-up song would be, Timmons was quick with a response.
“I used to play baseball, and I always wanted a walk-up song,” Timmons said. “ I like a song by Lil Uzi called Celebration Station. It’s very upbeat and uptempo, and I feel like that’s the type of vibe I like and personality I have, too.”
Seth Uson, a junior on the men’s soccer team majoring in business administration, uses music as a way to compose himself before a game. He commended Gratitude by Brandon Lake as a way to feel more present in the moment.
“I have a pretty different perspective or view of music compared to other people. Personally, I like to listen to a lot of worship or gospel music,” Uson said. “It is grounding and something that gives me a bigger perspective, that it is more than just myself.”
Uson shared how his team also uses music as a bonding experience, a way to connect and be on the same page as one another prior to training or competition.
“A lot of music that we listen to as a team — it’s something that’s very upbeat, something that’s very catchy and something that we could all vibe to,” Uson said.
Senior Sebastian Vaisset-Fauvel, a kinesiology major on the men’s track and field team, offers an additional perspective by sharing his interest in listening to artists like $uicideBoy$ and Nas. Vaisset-Fauvel shared a special shoutout to songs Low Key by $uicideBoy$ and Purple by Nas. He even has a playlist meant to get him in the race-ready mindset.
“I have a big playlist, and I usually use that, but recently I’ve been shuffling between a bunch of different songs,” Vaisset-Fauvel said. “Before racing, it gets me in the right mindset to just go crazy.”
From Rod Wave to $uicideBoy$ to Brandon Lake, every athlete sings and plays to their own beat. The tunes ringing in the ears of athletes before they take the pitch are diverse and necessary to reach a winning-ready-mindset.
Alexis Blue is a junior at Cal Poly Humboldt, majoring in journalism and minoring in writing. She enjoys drinking coffee, sunsets on the beach, and playing soccer.
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