No matter if you are part of a weekly derby team, a college sports club or even if you are part of a national league team, if you cannot work closely and effectively with your fellow athletes, then your team will not be guaranteed the success that it so deserves. Team building is a vital way for athletes to learn to grow and work together, both on and off the track or field. Not to mention, if you want your club to be successful and bring home the trophy, then you will want them to learn how to grow and work together so that you have a positive and optimal team culture.
Team culture
Fostering a positive and proactive team culture is vital to the success of your entire team, whether you compete as an individual or in a pair or larger group. If the overall mentality is negative and on a downer, then this will affect the glue that holds your team together, meaning that athletes step onto the field thinking that they are going to fail rather than win. If you want your team to be successful, then you will need to work on supporting your team culture right from day one. Make sure that you book in a variety of activities, such as Escape Room Charlotte, where your team members will have to work and collaborate together to get out of a confined space during a set time period. You could also consider other activities such as a culinary course, or even make sure that you all sit down together to eat and spend quality time as a team at least once a week. If you are looking to build team culture, then start small. Over time you will notice that your team members actively want to spend time together, rather than being forced to do so.
On the field
It is also up to you as a coach, or fellow athlete, to ensure that you bring team building activities onto the field also. From your warm up, to cool down, even if you have a poor game or do not perform as well as you had hoped, then you should still encourage all of your teammates to spend time together. There is no point in placing the blame for poor performance. Remember that you will all need to work better and closer than ever before if you want to make sure that you are successful on the next occasion.
Team building is an essential part of any athlete’s life, both on and off the field. So make sure that you work on building a strong and effective team culture and look to incorporate activities as part of your team bonding on a weekly basis. You should also be sure to enjoy team-building activities as part of your warm up and cool down on the field also. By making these small changes, you will notice an improvement in the mentality and performance of all athletes in your team and club.