When teams like basketball, tennis, squash and track and field go on the road, they share experiences that help bring them together, both on and off the court.
The men's basketball team generally begins its trips the day prior to the game, grabbing last-minute snacks from the Courtyard Cafe before heading onto the bus. While traveling to away stadiums, team members watch movies and often catch up on homework or sleep.
"We pretty much get to relax, which is my favorite part about it," co-captain Clive Weeden '11 said.
After arriving at the hotel, the team members either watch film or go to their individual rooms. Weeden said the team maintains a system where roommates stay matched for the whole season, allowing them to build a close relationship over an extended period. Players generally do work or relax in their rooms once at the hotel unless it is convenient to leave.
"If we go to Brown [University], the hotel is connected to the mall so we'll normally have time to walk around and do some shopping," Weeden said. "Down in Maryland, we went around town for a little while and hung out but we have a pretty early curfew," he said about a different season away game.
The basketball team is not allowed outside of its hotel past 11 p.m., Weeden said.
On game day, the team wakes up and spends the morning scouting and receiving last-minute details for the upcoming matchup. Players then enjoy a team meal and relax briefly before playing the day's game, according to co-captain Ronnie Dixon '11.
Immediately following the game, win or lose, the team re-boards the bus, heading either to another city for another game or back to Hanover.
The women's tennis team experiences a different dynamic on their road trips. The team usually meets at the Boss Tennis Center where, after loading their equipment onto the bus, head coach Bob Dallis offers a friendly reminder.
"Coach never fails to ask whether we've packed our tennis rackets and shoes," Ryan Reichel '11 said. "Never fun to arrive at a match not having shoes with you."
Reichel said players sometimes burst out singing or play games like "Catch Phrase" a game in which team members use verbal cues or physical gestures to hint at a given word. Other times, the players just nap.
"That's when you realize what music our coaches listen to," Reichel said. "Because we're always DJing when we're up."
Track team trips feature an even more different dynamic because the men's and women's teams travel together.
The diverse interests of both teams sometimes produce conflicts over one of the most important element of a bus ride movie selection.
"You might have one group of people that wants to watch The Little Mermaid' [(1989)] and the other group wants to watch Die Hard' [(1988)]," men's track tri-captain Tyler Ford '11 said. "So just having those battles between different groups of people and what they're interested in can be funny sometimes."
Ford said that, because the team wants to be focused while competing, players don't do schoolwork while at meets, even during down time. Many athletes do work on the bus or at the hotel, if not watching movies or listening to music.
Ford said players participate in low-energy activities, so as to conserve their focus for competition.
The squash team similarly tries to enjoy itself on bus rides. Because squash trips also include both the men's and women's teams, they have to deal with some of the same issues with which the track teams are faced.
"We always have a lot of animated discussion about what movies to watch on the way," co-captain Michael Lewis '11 said. "Typically action thrillers, but sometimes we throw in a little comedy or romance."
One important aspect of the men's squash team trips is roommate assignments, which the coaching staff decides. By divvying up roommates in that manner, Lewis said, teammates who would not otherwise spend much time with each other like freshmen and upperclassmen bond more easily.
"At the end of the night, when the lights go out, there's usually anywhere from five minutes to a few hours of talking which we term as pillow talk,' which is usually just unwinding," Lewis said.
The squash team also tries to take advantage of its away location. In addition to searching out amenities like saunas and pools, the team meets with friends and family in the visiting city.
"Someone on the team is from Philadelphia so the team is going to have dinner at her house, and I think that adds a pretty cool dimension of travel where you get to go to someone's house and you've got both teams and a lot of fun," Lewis said. "It kind of makes you feel like one big family, which is great."
The players interviewed by The Dartmouth all stressed an element of bonding and cohesion that their trips reinforce.
"I like the camaraderie aspect," Weeden said. "It's pretty much just you and your team versus everybody because we'll maybe have 10 fans on the road. The whole traveling and stuck on a bus for 10 hours it just really brings you closer."
Dixon said that, despite the looming knowledge of the game the team is traveling to play, there are lighthearted moments when everyone is on the road.
"I just know that every time there's some kind of laughter involved," he said.
Reichel said unexpectedly fun incidents often make for some of the best team experiences. On one occasion, the tennis team was looking for food and directed the coach to an location determined by a player's iPhone, only to discover the Jamba Juice they were searching for was gone.
"We were so upset that we had just driven around trying to find Jamba Juice that we were all craving and the iPhone let us down," she said. "Road trips just getting there and back are so much fun in their own sense."
Lewis said traveling with his team will be one of the aspects he will miss the most from his time on the squash team. Before Dartmouth, Lewis played mostly in individual tournaments that lacked a team aspect, which he said he appreciates now.
"It's always going to be a memorable experience," he said. "Something that I will look back on fondly."
