We see it happen at all levels of sport - from youth to professional - the top team on paper is not necessarily the team that performs the best. Simply having many talented individuals on one team does not lead to success. There is so much more that goes into building a team than recruiting or even developing top-level players. The impact of group dynamics on a team's success cannot be ignored.

In this month's issue we focus on topics related to group dynamics. The first article addresses the concept of cohesion, and offers some information into the different types of cohesion, as well as some insight into cultivating team cohesion and being aware of the potential hazards of negative cohesion.

The next article addresses the issue of individual roles on a team, and how to help athletes identify and accept their roles. The last article addresses an issue that does not see much focus in coaching and sport literature: the role of an assistant coach. Kaila Holtz, a 2004 Olympian from Canada in softball, and current assistant coach for the women's softball team at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, is the author of this important piece. Lastly, tips on team building from expert researchers are provided.

I hope you find something in this issue that you can apply to your coaching practices. If you would like to comment on these articles, submit your own ideas for publication, or have specific questions you would like addressed in upcoming issues, please do not hesitate to contact the coaching and sports section editors.

Nicole Kulikov-Hagobian
Coaching & Sports Section Editor

Anyone who says that coaching is an easy job has obviously never been a coach. Coaching is a very dynamic profession. One of the keys to being an effective coach is the ability to turn a group of individual athletes into a team, which is no easy task. At the high school level, coaches may only have athletes for a short amount of time. As one athlete graduates, moves up to another level, or chooses another sport, other athletes are coming in to take their place. This makes the development of team cohesion a difficult task for high school coaches.

Before discussing strategies to help foster cohesion and build a team out of individual players, it is important to understand exactly what cohesion is.

What is Cohesion?

Cohesion has been defined as "a dynamic process that is reflected in the tendency for a group to stick together and remain united in the pursuit of its instrumental objectives and/or for the satisfaction of member affective needs" (Carron, Brawley, & Widemeyer, 1998, p. 213). What is important to understand about cohesion, that is reflected in this definition, is that cohesion is multidimensional. A sport team can be united in different ways. Group cohesion is broken down into two general types: task cohesion and social cohesion.

If a group is highly task cohesive, they are united in pursuit of their common goals. For example, a basketball team may be cohesive towards the task of making the playoffs, which will reflect in their cohesiveness towards the daily tasks necessary to make that goal possible. Social cohesion reflects the degree to which your team members get along, or like each other. For example, players on a varsity soccer team that have played together since freshman year may have developed a strong connection to one another in that they all enjoy each other's company and get along on and off the field.

Does Success Lead To Cohesion, or Does Cohesion Lead To Success?

This is the age old question of which came first? The chicken or the egg? Research that has looked at the performance-cohesion/cohesion-performance relationship has concluded that it is circular in nature. Yes, a team that experiences success will likely be more cohesive. At the same time increasing the cohesiveness of your team, particularly in times where they are not experiencing success, can keep them motivated towards their task at hand and facilitate perseverance, which will lead to more performance success.

Simply stated, highly successful teams are likely to develop a strong sense of togetherness, and teams that are not experiencing success can increase their chances of becoming more successful by focusing on developing more cohesion among team members.

How Can I Foster Cohesiveness Among My Athletes?

In their research on expert coaches' perceptions of team building, Bloom et al. (2003) concluded that there is no one set means of developing cohesion. Rather, successful coaches use a variety of strategies that range from social activities, such as training camps and team dinners, to physical activities like group runs. Coaches stated that they consulted a variety of resources to get ideas for team building: seminars, books, articles, the Internet, and other coaches.

All of the coaches stated that it is important to implement team building at the beginning of the season, and many of them focused on fostering social cohesion at this point. Team traditions were cited as one of the main ways of developing cohesion. Many of the coaches stated that team building is a process of trial and error. Most importantly, all of the coaches believed that they, as coaches, were integral in the development of cohesion among their team members in terms of actively planning when, where, and how to implement the activities, as well as being aware of the fluctuations of cohesiveness on their team and how it impacted their success.

Is Cohesion Always Positive?

It is important to note that not all cohesiveness on sport teams will facilitate success. It depends on what the athletes are cohesive towards. What is the driving force behind their sense of togetherness? In fact, cohesiveness can negatively impact team success. Generally, aspects of social cohesion are more likely to impede success than are aspects of task cohesion. Teams can actually become so socially cohesive that they neglect the task at hand, which is to enhance performance.

For example, a basketball team can decide that they do not like their coach and this can foster a sense of togetherness or unity against the coach, which is technically cohesion, but obviously not very productive. The team may then decided that since they know what the coach wants is to win, they are going to stick together in not giving the coach what he/she wants.

A second example is the team of athletes who are too socially cohesive. For example, a cross-country team can become so united in friendship that they become less competitive with one another. They may decide on their warm-up that they are all going to run their workout very slow today, and because their social cohesion is so strong that is okay with them. They may focus more of their time on planning team gatherings and other social activities and neglect the tasks involved in improving performance. In my experiences, this happens more with female athletes than it does with male athletes, and it can be detrimental to the individual and collective performance success of the team.

references

The Impact of Roles on Team Building

A major strategy related to effective team building is that of individual roles. Specifically, when athletes do not feel that they have a role on a team, misunderstand their role, or resist their role, cohesion can be negatively impacted and thus performance will likely suffer. No one wants to feel unimportant or even less important than others.

This is true in life and it is true in sport. In order for sport teams to run efficiently it is important that each individual player believes they play an important part in the success of the team. This is obviously easier said than done. It requires careful consideration and planning on the part of the coach. Keep in mind that roles do not have to be specific to sport positions or events; roles can be social, organizational, or supportive. What is important is that every single player knows they are there for a purpose. Simply assigning roles is not enough. In building your team, a large focus should be on role clarification and role acceptance.

Role Clarification

Coaches should not assume that athletes understand their role, even if they know what their role is. Clarifying exactly what is expected of the athlete in that role, and the means through which they can carry out these expectations is important.

The opposite of role clarity is role ambiguity. Role ambiguity has been defined as uncertainty that is the result of "lack of information concerning the proper definition of the job, its goals and permissible means of implementing them" (Kahn et al., 1964, p. 94). Therefore, an element of team building that is directly evident in role clarification is communication. The following should be directly communicated to your athletes: (1) specifically what responsibilities are inherent in their role, (2) the behaviors that you expect of them in that role, and (3) what consequences, if any, they would face for not upholding the integrity of their role.

Role Acceptance

Even if a coach assigns individual roles to players and makes efforts to clarify each role, the athlete still must accept their role in order for the team to be effective. Role acceptance is related to how an athlete feels about his or her role. For example, an athlete may be assigned a specific position on a team, which is now his role, but that athlete may believe that he should be playing a different position and therefore not accept his assigned role.

In addition, there may be perceived stereotypes with certain roles. An athlete who was the star player in her position as goalkeeper on her junior varsity soccer team may feel shame and disappointment about now being the back up goalie on the varsity team, believing people will view her as "second string." There are ways coaches can foster role acceptance. Helping athletes understand the significance of their role, and how it is critical to team success is one way of doing this.

Another strategy is to help athletes see the bigger picture. For example, the athlete in the aforementioned example who was unhappy about being the "second string" goalkeeper could be helped to see that she is learning from a more experienced player, and that soon she will have the opportunity to take over the reigns and at that point she will be the one mentoring a new athlete.

Another strategy to aid role acceptance is to consciously give feedback and recognition to each and every athlete. Lastly, helping athletes understand the unique skills, characteristics, or experiences they bring to the role can greatly impact role acceptance.

references

How to succeed as an Assistant Coach

A great assistant coach assumes many roles. At any time they may be: teacher, event planner, business manager, personal assistant, video technician, baby-sitter, mentor or psychologist. Often, as an assistant coach, I'm a chameleon dressed in a warm-up suit; I constantly adapt to my changing environment.

To avoid being consumed by the myriad of duties as an assistant, I must be proactive, think laterally, and be good at multi-tasking. In order to stay ahead in the food chain, great assistants, like the chameleons that survive their predators, must be flexible. But in order to have any flexibility, assistant coaches must be great listeners and have a strong sense of self-awareness. I’m a young coach and I make mistakes, but I am constantly looking for ways to improve and contribute to both the team and the coaching staff. Without this attitude, as an assistant coach, I would very likely be eaten alive.

There are several ways to break into coaching. One of the best is to establish reliable contacts at different levels. Great contacts will provide recommendations to prospective employers, and may also have some inside information on jobs that could open up. Several networking opportunities are available to coaches that are looking to expand their list of contacts. For example, volunteer or coach a club team, attend coaching conferences (all sports have regional and/or national conventions) or workshops, and attend the sport's national championship. Most importantly, seek out opportunities to meet coaching role models.

My personal experience is that head coaches, hiring assistant coaches, want someone that brings something unique to the coaching staff - a strength that will help the team achieve their goals; it may be good recruiting contacts, a special ability to teach, or the knowledge of a specific position. While it pays to be flexible, it is also important to create a unique niche and to become a valuable commodity to any coaching staff. Know your strengths. What can you bring to the team that will help them achieve their goals?

The duties of an assistant coach fall into several categories: office work, practice organization, and game management. They should be written into the job description, but if they are not, be sure to ask for clarification of what is expected of you. Duties that are less obvious, but equally important, may be unwritten and are sure to come up on a daily basis. Examples of these are: loyalty to the head coach, the ability to work with other members of the coaching staff, and integrity.

The obvious duties in the job description make coaching a profession, and the less obvious make it a lifestyle. Coaches, including assistants, are role models and should be ready for that responsibility. Be prepared for long hours, a tremendous commitment, and personal excellence.

Being an assistant coach is difficult but extremely rewarding. Teaching is the best part of being a coach. I love it when a player's eyes light up because they understand a difficult concept, or can execute a complicated skill for the first time. I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment during competition when the team falls into the rhythm of the game and excels. It's a beautiful thing to watch the team trust its training and not have to bark successive directions. In fact, the only thing better for me is being out there on the field myself, playing.

	Get to know your athletes as unique individuals
	Develop a sense of team identity and pride in group membership
	Develop a team goal setting program
	Provide opportunities to evaluate progress towards goals
	Clarify roles and role expectations
	Hold team meetings regularly
	Establish a player council

Source:
Yukelson, D. (1997). Principles of effective team building in sports: A direct services approach at Penn State University. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 9, 73-96.

	Involve players in the discussion of expectations regarding behaviors during practices, competitions, and other non-sport contexts (school, outside of school, etc.). Allow them to participate in the development of team policies and consequences.
	Provide and encourage opportunities for socialization outside of practice and competitions.
	Have the team set collective team goals.
	Have each player set individual goals, and explain how their goals will help the team achieve its overall goals.
	Foster a sense of "uniqueness" within the team; develop traditions.
	Encourage senior athletes to serves as mentors to the rookies.

Source:
Carron, A. V. (1993). The sport team as an effective group. In J. Williams (Ed.), Applied Sport Psychology (pp. 110-121). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield. Copeland, B. W., & Wida, K. (1996). Resolving team conflicts: Coaching tips to prevent player conflicts. The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, 67(4), 52-55.

Building a Sports Team - This article will focus on developing an understanding of what defines a group and a sports team. The information should be helpful to teammates and coaches alike.

Team Chemistry - "United we stand, divided we fall." "All for one and one for all!" In any language, the idea of team chemistry, this dynamic process that occurs when a team sticks together in pursuit of its goals, is an extremely important variable in the quest for athletic success. Yet how important is it?

The 10 Biggest Mistakes Endurance Athletes Make - There are obviously more than ten mistakes that athletes can make, but those listed in this article represent the most common performance-ruining ones athletes have made over the years. Some of these may seem basic and obvious, but you’d be amazed how many athletes keep making the same ones over and over, and then wonder why their performance isn’t as good as it could be. - source

Hydration, What You Need To Know - Water is the most important substance on earth, 60% of your body weight, and the number one concern on any athlete's intake list. In this article you;ll learn how sweat loss affects athletic performance, that too much water is worse than too little, and that you can't replace all the water you sweat out. - source

The Benefits of Sports Conditioning - One of the most common misconceptions among athletes is that they can get in shape and continue to improve physically simply by participating in their sport. The higher level of performance desired, the more efficiently and consistently one wishes to perform, and the more potential that exists for injury the more important it becomes to design a specific sports conditioning program tailored to the athlete and his or her specific sport or event. - source

Superior Recovery - The purpose of this article is to answer the questions about enhancing your recovery after a hard workout, and gives guidelines of what to use, when to use it, and how much to use. When you follow these guidelines you;re giving your body the support it needs so that it can do what you want it to do in your next training session or race. - source

Not Missing a Beat; Why You Should Train Using Heart Rate - If we could identify one single physiological variable that identifies the total stress on a runner’s body while performing, it would be heart rate. Unlike traditional training methods utilizing speed and distance, which measure the body’s performance, heart rate measures the body’s response to training. Identified as 1-5, each heart rate zone has a specific purpose: aerobic conditioning, anaerobic conditioning, aerobic capacity and anaerobic capacity. Read the rest...

KidsCamps.com - This site contains tons of links to different types of camps, so you certainly won't have problems finding a camp to suit your needs. If you are looking for a sport camp, check out this link.