“The strength of a team is each individual… The strength of each member is the team!” (Phil Jackson, Chicago Bulls coach)

For a sports team to exist, you need a group of talented athletes, who work together towards a common goal of winning the game. There are 4 characteristics that individuals and the team as a whole need to be successful. It can be described in short:

T – confidence

E- enthusiasm

A- ambition

M – motivation

Trust allows team members to rely on each other and good teamwork depends on trust. In team sports, players need to rely on each other. When trust is lacking, members play as individuals, which weakens the unity of the entire team. Trust is built when team members get to know each other, their abilities, and their commitment. It grows as the team trains together until the developing team has an almost instinctive feeling for each other. In an effective sports team, there must be trust between teammates, trust between coach and players, and athletes must trust themselves and their own abilities. If an athlete is not confident in himself or his abilities, he usually expresses this as a fear of failure.

Enthusiasm is the glue that holds a team together. Most people participate in sports for fun and to enjoy the game. If the game is fun, you will be excited to practice and play. The entire sports team needs to share the enthusiasm generated by wanting to be a team member. Every team member needs to take pride in the team as this creates social cohesion.

Ambition gives direction to the team. Individual team members and the team as a whole need to have ambition to achieve the goal of winning ethically. When a team is united in pursuit of a common goal or ambition, it has good cohesion in tasks.

Each member needs to know the team’s goals and ambitions and be committed to achieving them. Individuals need to be ambitious to attend training courses and focus on improving their skills for the benefit of themselves and the team. Most players aim to be recognized as top players. To be recognized, they must play well over a series of matches. Thus, the overall goal of the individual player is determined by the team’s performance in the matches and in this way the goals of each player are integrated with the goal of the team.

Motivation is what drives the team to achieve. Individual players need a good motivation before they can perform to their potential. Motivation comes from having a challenge that the player believes they can achieve. Teams are also challenged when they think they can win the match. Even a small dog can, at times, overpower an overwhelming favourite. In fact, underperformance can be because players “go through the motions” without motivation, while the underdog is challenged and motivated to make it. When all team members believe that the team can overcome obstacles in the way of achieving the goal, we say that the team has good team effectiveness.

It’s easy to break one arrow, but not ten in a bundle.