The Team that Plays Together Stays Together

Everyone has heard the age old expression “The family that plays together stays together.” Well, I believe the same holds true for a family of athletes—a team. A team that can laugh with each other, relax and have a good time, always creates a more productive, thriving, and successful unit.

This past Saturday, College Game Day did a piece on how USC Head Coach, Pete Carroll, strives to create an atmosphere where his players are friends and enjoy the company of one another on and off the field. After all, within a team of friends, there is bound to be more teamwork, synergy, and a better athletic performance. See for yourself as the usually stoic USC Trojans let loose during a team meeting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T2QRpmjRmQ.

That’s the beauty of college athletics rather than professional. Granted, there are scholarships, but there isn’t all the talk of contracts, fame, signing bonuses, and who’s earning what—there’s no mention of money whatsoever—it’s all about the sport and the team. Coaches strive to foster a winning atmosphere by cultivating and creating friendships along the way.

My senior year at TCU, the Horned Frog swimming and diving team took a trip to West Texas to swim against UT-Permian Basin, practice in the fresh water spring at Balmorhea State Park, and camp overnight in the Davis Mountains. That weekend our team grew by leaps and bounds—we laughed for hours around a campfire roasting marshmallows, slept the night all piled next to each other giggling in our tents, and came back to school with stronger friendships with our teammates ready to take on our opponents together.

I wholeheartedly believe that a team who truly cares for one another through genuine friendships will perform at the elite level. When there are bonds of caring for one another you strive to perform at your peak for your teammates, and you desire for them to do the same—there are no limits for what you can do together as a true TEAM.