Athletes successfully and creatively help their teammates bond

Sports teams are known to form families among their members, improving performance and increasing happiness. University of San Francisco Professor Dr. Jim Taylor supports this notion in his Huffington Post article “Build a Positive and High-Performing Sports Team Culture.”

“Team sports, such as basketball, football and soccer, require that time and energy be devoted to building a culture that will lead to success,” Taylor said. “Without this discussion, the chances of a team being successful are small.”

Peninsula athletes agree that the process of creating close relationships and maintaining these relationships is important.

“Team bonding is a really important part of volleyball, as it changes a group of unfamiliar people into your team, your family, whom you encourage and trust throughout the whole season,” junior varsity volleyball player Lauren Leung said.

“When you become more comfortable with your team, you play better together on the court.”

Peninsula teams have started traditions and developed new ways to bond. A popular activity for a majority of sports teams is dining. Cross country teams eat pasta together before meets, both for the carbs necessary for athletic competition and for the team bonding. The junior varsity softball team shares a buffet at a team member’s home as a reward after every game. The varsity girls’ basketball also enjoys bonding activities after practices.

“After practice, all fifteen of us went to Gen, the Korean barbecue restaurant,” varsity basketball player Jenna Yamada said. “After, we hit the beach with our beach bodies and tried learning to surf.”

Other athletes bond by conditioning and putting in extra hours of practice. The track and field team does core exercise together under the bleachers every day during sixth period before exercising.
“In order to do well, we have to have trust in each other and build each other up as a team,” sophomore and track athlete Katie Hageman said. “Exercising with each other every day definitely helps our chemistry.”

While some teams make up bonding activities during a season, volleyball has maintained the same team building tradition for the past four years. At the beginning of every season, seniors “kidnap” freshmen from their homes early in the morning, escorting them to a day of T-shirt making and games. Each senior chooses a freshman as her little sister and acts as her mentor throughout the season.

“We had no idea that the varsity girls would kidnap us,” junior varsity volleyball player Jane Prock said.

“They made us breakfast, T-shirts, and made it an overall memorable day.”