Sport And Exercise Psychology: A Critical Introduction

Box 7.3 Thinking critically about...direct team-building interventions

Yukelson (1997) recommended a number of practical techniques for direct team-building
activities in sport psychology. Among these techniques are:

• Getting to know the players as unique individuals;


• Developing players’ pride in their team and fostering a sense of team identity;


• Establishing team goals and strengthening the players’ commitment to them;


• Providing regular evaluations of the team’s progress towards goals;


• Clarifying the roles and expectations of each member of the team.

Critical thinking questions
Imagine that you are a sport psychologist hired to engage in direct teambuilding work
with a squad of athletes. Do you think that there may be any conflict between getting to
know these players as individuals and trying to mould them into a cohesive team? How
would you handle a situation in which some of the players rejected the manager’s goals
for the team? Can you see any contradiction between teaching team-members to be self-
reliant and yet encouraging them to depend on each other? How would you like to be
introduced to the team—as a sport psychologist or as a team-building consultant? Give
reasons for your answer.

Apart from the suggestions contained in Box 7.3, a variety of other team-building
exercises have been used by coaches and managers in sport. Some of the more unusual
ones are described in Box 7.4.

Box 7.4 Team-building exercises in soccer: bingo, bathing and

drinking!

Soccer coaches and managers have used many unusual strategies in an effort to foster
team spirit among their players. For example, Don Revie, who managed the highly
successful Leeds United team of the 1960s and 1970s, used to organise games of bingo
for his players. In addition, former players claim that he often used to personally “soap”
and massage them in baths after training and matches! Apart from such “hands on”
techniques, other favourite bonding strategies include playing practical jokes on team-
mates and engaging in drinking games. For example, the “crazy gang” members of the
Wimbledon team of the 1980s used to cut each other’s suits, set their clothes on fire and
pack talcum powder into team-mates’ motor-cycle helmets as initiation rites. More
recently, Taylor (2003) reported that when Neil Warnock was manager of Bury, he used
to encourage his players to drink cocktails made of raw eggs and sherry after training
every Friday. According to Dean Kiely, Bury’s goalkeeper at the time, this technique was
Warnock’s way of saying “we stand and fall together” (p. 2).

Exploring team cohesion in sport: a critical perspective 203