When you think of good team chemistry, what do you think of? Do you think of attributes that represent good chemistry and how those attributes affect your team?
The 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls of the NBA are a prime example of what good team chemistry looks like. A 2009 article in The Bleacher Report describes the players as having “the strongest team chemistry I have ever witnessed. It was like watching a family and night in and night out that family through determination and will won game after game after game after game.” This wasn’t just an opinion; the team’s play supported the talk of their chemistry. The team’s record that season was 72-10, which had never been done before. Using their chemistry, the Chicago Bulls were able to take the NBA to the next level.
When asking Pingree sports captains questions related to team chemistry, some struggled at first to come up with answers. Summer Elward, captain of the Pingree Girls Soccer team and Jenna Farber, captain of the Pingree Girls Volleyball team, both mentioned the importance of communication and support as part of team chemistry.
In a study done by the Gallup report, supporting one’s teammates can have a significant impact on team productivity. The study said teams “are estimated to have 10% to 20% higher productivity compared to teams that do not foster support and collaboration.”
If I had an opportunity to increase my team’s productivity by 10-20%, I would take it. But, how can we boost support and collaboration on Pingree sports teams – and how much influence do team captains have on their team’s chemistry?
Captains can play a key role. When asked what role captains play in cultivating team chemistry, Summer said, “Making sure everyone is included, boosting morale, and being a leader in contribution.” Jenna said that captains help “leading by example, and lifting others up even when I’m not having the best day.”
However, there are limits to the role captains can play in terms of promoting team chemistry. After researching and reflecting on what is the most different about sports compared to 50 years ago, I found that the answer could be the pressure of college recruiting. The process makes it very difficult for team captains to have a major influence. Team chemistry can be improved by coaches, but, more importantly, the recruiting system needs to change to de-emphasize individual play.
The college recruiting process has drastically changed sports. In recent years, earlier commitments and verbal offers have come onto the scene. Because of this, many high school students are committing before their senior year, increasing competition in the recruiting race to ensure that they get a good spot at a good college. The increased competition opened the door for third-party recruiting businesses. With the help of these businesses, the number of recruits increased because players now knew what they should be doing to get recruited. Technology was then brought onto the scene, thousands of players a day send college coaches film and emails. Players also use social media to promote themselves and show a strong online presence. All of these aspects make it extremely hard for players to stand out and attract college coaches.
As a result, players feel like they have to emphasize their individual talents to an extreme level. This makes it so players within the same team are competing with one another to get recruited. Instead of working together, all of the outside sources are persuading them to focus on their own talents. The competition can create a disconnect between teammates and disrupt a team’s ability to have good team chemistry. If players are only focusing on themselves, they may not be doing what’s best for the team. All of this stems back to college recruiting.
Society needs to find a new way to go about college recruiting that is less centered around selfishness and individual play. If we do not make a change, sports could be altered forever. We must find a way to show players that if you put the team before yourself, you and the players around you will reap the benefits.
