University of Georgia Athletics
Yoculan Blog: Turning The Team Into A Family
December 21, 2009 | Gymnastics
In this week's edition, former head coach of the Gym Dogs Suzanne Yoculan talks about the importance of team unity and structure. To read previous editions, click here.
In Steve Brennan's "Six Psychological Factors for Success," he had this to say about building team cohesion: "Every championship coach in this book likened his/her team to a family structure. Coaches and teammates were to treat each other respectfully and bond together much as they would with their own family members."
In my years as a coach, I came to realize that team chemistry was as important as any factor in our success. And developing the "family structure" was an essential part of team chemistry.
Many of the Olympic sports are considered by some fans and observers as a group of individual performers. And while gymnastics, golf, tennis, swimming and diving, and track and field may not have some of the same "team" requirements—like blocking in football or screening in basketball—all championship teams have a family structure.
But how do you get your team to become a family? Building the family starts when a coach brings athletes together to form a team. Sure, they work together in their arena every day. But sharing activities away from the gym or court or course or pool or field is as important as working together in the arena. Many coaches have their team members work on community projects together, not just for the obvious service opportunities, but also for the building of the team itself. For example, the Gym Dogs work with the Special Olympics and Habitat for Humanity, and they have raised money for the Athens Regional Medical Center's Breast Health Center.
An example of bringing together several aspects of bonding as a family is the women's basketball team's project to provide bicycles for underprivileged children. Coach Andy Landers' players work throughout the year soliciting funds from their families, their fans, and even their professors to raise money to purchase bicycles. In 2009, the money, which was matched by Academy Sports (a local sporting goods store), went toward the purchase of 60 bikes.
But their involvement didn't stop there. The bicycles are new and come unassembled, so the athletes teamed up to put them together. I would venture to guess that they were a bit clumsy initially, but by the time 60 bikes were assembled, they must have felt like they had learned a new trade. In particular, they reinforced working together, and I am sure they experienced many of the joys and frustrations that members of a family do. The climax to the program comes at Christmas when the team selects the recipients of the bicycles and joins with Academy Sports in delivering them.
Members of a team working together as a family, loving and respecting one another, can make the difference in winning a championship and falling just short after being the year-long leader. I've experienced both, and there is no one who appreciates a good team family more than I do.
Quoting Brennan, "The true test of the family concept is introduced when members of the family move on. If the family concept is truly ingrained, it doesn't dissolve when members move on. Just as one remains a member of his family when he finishes his schooling, goes into the professional world and gets married, athletes remain part of their team families throughout life. Even the coaches remain family members as they move on."
As I experience my first season away from the competing gymnastics family, I recognize the love and compassion shared between members of the extended gymnastics family due to years of respect and shared vision which we all experienced as being part of a "family team." And during this holiday season, I take this opportunity to wish the 2010 Gym Dog Team a successful and rewarding gymnastics season from all the Gym Dog alumni, a group to which I now belong.
