To anyone who plays a sport, you know that before you strap on that helmet, before you lace up those shoes, the horns of war must sound to begin. Sports teams across the country do their own thing to get hyped before they go to battle. One more interesting phenomenon has traveled across the ocean and is gaining attention.

In 2006, when this tradition started, the Rainbow Warriors of The University of Hawaii took a war dance from the Maori people of New Zealand and made it their signature start to games. The name of this warrior tribe dance is called “Haka.”  Many sports teams around the world perform this dance. For instance, the rugby league (the Kiwis), the New Zealand Australian football team, and even BYU (Brigham Young University) and the British American Football league have begun to use this dance to get pumped before games.

It can be intimidating for the opposing team and gets the performing team to work together. This dance will be more and more popular as more and more teams adapt it for their pregame rituals.