Team Bonding

Team bonding is an important chemistry needed by a team in order for success to happen. This concept brings a team together as one, and allows them to do greater things. Some teams who do not have a sense of chemistry tend not to finish well in their seasons, or get in arguments with each other over things that shouldn't be a problem. Team bonding helps put a common goal in front of the players and gives them something to take pride in.

Here at Kennedy, the football team took the idea of "Family", as something to bond over. A family supports one another and helps each other out when times get tough. The team bonded over this concept and has made them successful both on and off the field. The reason it is so important to buy into team bonding is because it creates a unity within the team, and sometimes outside of the team. Our school has taken the "family", idea to another level, and even though some still do not buy into the idea outside of the team, the more people who do create a stronger bond within the school.

To represent our team bond the football team uses a wooden block with the word "family" on it. The team signed this block stating their commitment to the team and all that it represents. This sets common ground rules, allowing for everyone to be on the same page, and succeed as a unit. This symbol everywhere we go. Practices, team meetings, and on the sidelines of are games. We take pride in it and use it to remind us of what really matters.

Another way teams bond is to hang out outside of whatever activity they participate in. This grows the personal relationships of a team. If a team can't get to know each other from a personal level then it is hard for them to relate to one another. The closer a team can relate outside of the sport the better they do in the sport.

Some people don't believe that team bonding works, or make fun of what others do. I can tell you from personal experience that it does work and does bring a team together. Lately my team all got the same shirts. Many people around the school didn't understand what they stood for or even "made fun" of them. This didn't matter to me and doesn't matter to anyone else on my team because we knew what it meant and used it as a way to come closer together.