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4 Traits of great teams
©2006 oldschoolsportsparenting.com
No matter how you articulate their duties,
the coaches you hire are ultimately charged with two basic tasks: to develop
individual players’ athletic skills, and to develop athletes into successful
teams.
As an AD or other school administrator
involved in athletics, you can’t possibly know enough about every sport to
judge how well your coaches are developing players. But when it comes to
developing teams, the signs of
success transcend all sports.
Here are the four most common traits I’ve
noticed in successful teams, along with some proven ideas for advancing
them. (By the way, don’t look for "winning" on this list. Although it’s
certainly a measure of a team’s success, I consider it a byproduct of the
more important traits I’ve listed.)
1.
Togetherness. Truly
successful teams exhibit a togetherness -- a sense of caring -- that you can
literally see and feel during practice and games. From the lowliest
substitute to the most visible and talented starter, they have each other’s
backs. They cheer for each other, pick each other up, defend each other and
even discipline each other. They need few, if any, "team rules," because,
frankly, the one or two potentially disobedient rogues among them would be
too scared or embarrassed to act out, for fear of being socially ostracized
by the rest of the team.
To achieve it:
Have starters and/or veteran players "mentor"
younger, less experienced ones.
I call it, "anti-hazing." Coaches should assign each upperclassman the task
of welcoming a newcomer and acclimating him to the team. It’s a season-long
job (if not a yearlong one). You can extend this responsibility to as many
levels and tasks as you want. For example, the upperclassman could be
responsible for making sure his protégé knows the team’s schedule for
practice and games. He could also help the younger player arrange for rides
to and from practice. He could sit with him on the team bus to games. He
could even follow the younger kid’s academic progress – not necessarily by
monitoring his grades, but certainly by talking with him about certain
teachers, expectations, time-management skills … you get the idea. Build in
some accountability by periodically checking with the younger players to see
how well things are going.
2.
Unselfishness. Great
teams play with a unified purpose that has nothing to do with personal
accomplishments. They play for school pride, tradition, a respected coach, a
team mascot – or even each other. But they never play for personal gain. If
the team loses, no individual player feels good, even if he excelled in the
game. Likewise, if the team wins, all players share in the celebration –
even those who played poorly or didn’t play at all.
To achieve it:
Elect a "parent advisory" committee.
Parents are almost always the source of a young athlete’s "me first"
attitude. It only takes one or two such parents to create a spreading cancer
of discontent that will quickly consume both the players and the parent
community. There’s no foolproof way to prevent this from happening, but you
can minimize the risk and the damage by collecting a representative group of
parents from each sport in season, and meeting with them in one giant caucus
for 30 minutes each week. Purpose of these meetings is to get an idea of
what’s on their minds, to tell them what's on yours, and to get their help
with team-related problems and opportunities. The group should represent all
grades and all levels of "depth chart" status – from bench sitters to
all-stars. If there are any well-known rabble-rousers among your school’s
sports parents, get them on this committee! Tell the group that meetings
will be 30 minutes and no longer, and that all complaints must be
documented. No hearsay or anonymous whining! That will very likely encourage
them to meet separately and decide what’s really important, before getting
together with you. You may even find them quelling some disturbances on
their own. This may seem like a recipe for disaster, but in truth, it’s a
recipe for heading off disasters. Parents are going to have (and express)
opinions whether you like it or not. This type of public forum encourages
them to bring criticisms into the open rather than talk behind your back. It
will even help temper parents who aren’t on the committee, because they’ll
be able to spout off to committee members and know their voices will be
heard. Schools typically have parent-teacher advisory groups to
discuss academic and disciplinary issues. Why not do the same for
sports?
3. Equality.
Translation: No
stars. Every team has a few kids who are
universally recognized as "our best players." But on successful teams, these
exceptionally talented kids stand out in one place, only: in the game.
Afterward, they act – and are treated – no differently from the most humble
backup on the squad. No one talks about their records or their awards or any
other honors and statistics. You can’t stop the public and the media from
treating them like something special. But within the team, itself, these
kids have learned to avoid the spotlight and, when thrust into it, to shine
it on their teammates, fans and coaches.
To achieve it:
Insist that coaches assign maintenance duties
to everyone, not just "rookies." Football teams are notorious for
making underclassmen carry blocking dummies, water coolers and other
equipment to and from the locker room before and after practice. I can think
of no better way to encourage divisions and senior-itis on a team. Why can’t
the starting quarterback carry a tackling dummy? Why can’t the team captains
make the last check of the practice field for stray helmet covers and water
cups before heading inside to shower up? When young players see veterans
handling mundane chores, it sends a message that no one is too important to
work for the good of the team.
4.
Confidence. To an outsider, a great
team can seem almost arrogant in its belief that it can’t lose. But that’s
just the result of the players’ togetherness, equality and unselfishness.
It’s not the ability of their individual players that gives them strength.
It’s the bonds between them. The team is resilient. Setbacks are like fuel
for the players’ competitive fires.
To achieve it:
Have coaches set aside time to practice
handling stressful situations. For example,
basketball teams often practice bringing the ball up court with 12 seconds
on the clock, against a press, and scoring the winning basket. Football
teams do the same with a "live" 2-minute drill on offense, or by practicing
the first series on defense after a potentially momentum-swinging offensive
turnover. Baseball teams practice manufacturing the tying run in the bottom
of the last inning. No matter what sport it is, the key is to create
situations that exaggerate the team’s need to pull together and rely on each
other for success. Do this over and over again in practice, the same way you
would any drill, because resilience and confidence are acquired skills. They
don’t happen naturally. They need to be taught and practiced.
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