teamwork in sports

“The strength of the team is each individual member… the strength of each member is the team!” (Phil Jackson, Head Coach, Chicago Bulls)

For a sports team to exist, you need a group of talented athletes working together to achieve the common goal of winning the game. There are 4 characteristics that individual members and the team as a whole need to be successful. These can be described by the acronym:

T-trust

E – Enthusiasm

A – Ambition

M-Motivation

Trust allows team members to depend on each other and good teamwork is built on trust. In team sports, players must depend on each other. When trust is lacking, members play as individuals, weakening the unity of the entire team. Trust is built when team members get to know each other and their skills and commitment. It grows as the team practices together until a developed team has an almost instinctive feel for one another. In an effective sports team, there must be trust between teammates, trust between the coach and the players, and individual athletes must trust themselves and their own abilities. If an athlete is not confident in himself or his abilities, it is often expressed as a fear of failure.

Enthusiasm is the glue that holds a team together. Most people participate in sports for the fun and enjoyment of the game. If the game is fun, you will be excited to train and play. The entire sports team needs to share an enthusiasm that is born from the desire to be a member of the team. Each team member should feel proud of the team, as this creates social cohesion.

Ambition gives direction to the team. Individual team members and the team as a whole must have ambition to achieve the goal of winning ethically. When a team is united in pursuit of a common goal or ambition, they have good cohesion on the task.

Each member needs to know the team’s goals and ambitions and be committed to achieving them. People need ambition to attend training sessions and focus on improving their skills for the benefit of both themselves and the team. Most players have the goal of being recognized as outstanding players. To be recognized, they have to play a series of matches. Therefore, the overall objective of the individual player is determined by the team’s performance in matches, and in this way, the objectives of each individual player are integrated with the objective of the team.

Motivation is what drives the team to achieve it. Individual players need good motivation before they can perform to their full potential. Motivation comes from having a challenge that the player believes he is capable of achieving. Teams are also challenged when they believe they are capable of winning the match. Even the bottom dog can, on occasion, beat the heavy favourite. In fact, the favorite may underperform because players “go through the motions” without motivation, while the underdog is challenged and motivated to achieve. When all team members believe that the team can overcome obstacles on the way to achieve the goal, we say that the team has good group effectiveness.

A single arrow breaks easily, but not ten in a bundle.