A Connected Team

Practical Ways to Build Team Cohesion
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“A positive, united team is a powerful team. It does not happen by accident.” - Jon Gordon
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One of my favourite Theodore Roosevelt quotes is, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Simply put, when it comes to coaching: connect before you correct. Whether your players listen to you consistently or not, whether they have bought into your culture and systems or not, whether they are super talented or not - I can almost guarantee that you will get more from your current players if you invest some time outside of practice getting to know who they are as people. Your team will not develop superior trust, communication, teamwork, resilience, vulnerability, and grit by accident. To go from a team that just shows up when necessary, to a team that can count on each other on and off the court is a special transformation that can work wonders.

Team bonding does not have to be expensive, time consuming or stressful. Here are a few options to think about:

1. Fundraise - help your team in more ways than one by planning an event that gets players involved in their own success (ex: bingo, karaoke, trivia night, bake sale, bottle drive)
2. Volunteer - get your team thinking about more than just themselves by making them aware of how others lives (ex: collect canned goods, serve a meal at a shelter, hand out care packages to the homeless, spend time at an old age home)
3. Be in nature - leave the craziness of life behind and enjoy some fresh air, beautiful scenery and alternative exercise (ex: hike, ski, snowshoe, toboggan, swim, walk)
4. Try a different sport - get a great workout in and keep up the competitive spirit, but leave the basketballs out it (ex: soccer, football, frisbee, baseball, dodgeball, volleyball)
5. Share a meal - nothing brings people together like food (ex: order in, eat out, have it potluck style or rotate between hosts
6. Study Hall - everyone has some sort of work to do throughout the season, why not do it together (ex: homework groups, cafe meet ups, peer tutoring)
7. Get outside everyone’s comfort zone - try a completely new activity (ex: yoga, dance class, paintball, painting, art gallery tour)
8. Build something together - feel the accomplishment of making something from scratch (ex: talent show, poem, pottery, custom water bottles, team awards, baking)
9. Team building day - use several of the internet’s innumerable bonding activities to encourage an open, honest, deep, respectful culture (ex: get to know you games, physical challenges, questionnaires, reflection and goal setting activities)
10. Ask your players - what kind of time would they like to spend together (ex: movie night, sleepover, board game tournament, museum tour, mini putt)

I’ve won games, tournaments and championships, but some of my fondest memories as an athlete have nothing to with those. The teammates and coaches that have meant the most to me are the ones that showed me I was more than just a basketball player to them. As coaches we are not only developing athletes, but developing the next generation of leaders. And don’t fool yourself into thinking that team building is a waste of valuable on court basketball time...to leave you with another Jon Gordon quote, “Team beats talent when talent isn’t a team.”

​This post was written by Right Way coach, Clare Murphy, who is currently completing her Bachelor of Education degree at the University of Ottawa while also serving as an assistant coach the Women's Varsity Basketball Team.