Team cohesion in sport involves a variety of factors e.g. coaches and the environment and can be defined as: ‘a dynamic process that is reflected in the tendency of a group to stick together and remain united in the pursuit of its instrumental objectives and/or for the satisfaction of member affective needs’ which suggests the […]
The term ‘culture’ is thrown around a lot in sport. However, what does it mean exactly and, as coaches, how do we create and maintain it? While it is, largely, accepted that developing culture is important, particularly as we progress up the sporting pyramid to elite levels, there are common mistakes made. It is essential that coaches have […]
Ex-England cricket batsman Kevin Pietersen (KP) is in the limelight again as Paul Downton, the managing director of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) talks about the reasons behind KP’s early departure from international cricket. KP was controversially axed from the England side following the team’s 5-0 Ashes series loss in Australia earlier this […]
We’ve all seen it or heard about it – stories of top football coaches shouting, throwing things all in the name of getting the best out of their players. From Sir Alex Ferguson’s legendary temper in the changing rooms, to Graham Taylors’ touchline fury broadcast in the 1994 BBC documentary ‘An Impossible Job’, you could […]
There are many opinions of what a group really is defined as. According to Carron, Hausenblas, and Eys (2005) a group in a sporting context is defined as more than two people that have a common identity or objective, with an organised structure, eventually leading to the same fate at the end of their journey […]
In may 2013, Alex Fergunsons`26 years, successful leadership of Manchester United came to an end. During his career as manager, the club won the Premier League 13 times and Champions league both in 1999 and 2008. Stories about “hairdryer-treatment”, fatherly leadership and the fact that he rebuilt winning teams again and again, makes him not […]
In August of last year I moved to the USA to play soccer for a small university in Tennessee. What we achieved as a team was more than any of us could have imagined, or even dreamt about whilst going through a brutal pre-season at the beginning of August. We under-achieved in our conference, lost […]
What are roles and responsibilities? In order for a team to be successful it is important that players and staff all have set roles within the team’s own group structure. It is also important there are clear responsibilities that all people involved with the team respect and carry out. By having set roles and responsibilities […]
Conflict within a team sports at both amateur and elite level is a likely occurrence at some point! Conflict can arise among members of sports teams which may negatively impact individual and team performance (Laious & Tzetzis, 2005). Moreover, team development theories (Gesick, 1988, 1989; Tuckman, 1965) suggest that team conflict has important influences on […]
A Team-Building Intervention Whether it is on or off the playing field, effectively dealing with conflict goes a long way in determining success. Once teams successfully overcome conflict, trust develops between team members, leading to higher levels of team cohesion and greater team effectiveness (Teklab et al., 2009). A team building workshop is one intervention […]