Building Team Identity Through Individual Motivation

By Dirk Smith, MSc, SDL (He/Him). 

In team sports, 'identity' is an important and influential factor to anybody, and everybody associated with the team. Everything from youth sports all the way up to professional teams and even non-sports teams all have people, athletes, coaches, parents and fans all who proudly associate themselves with the team for a variety of reasons and motivations. Team Identity is an important part of team sports, from sharing victories, defeats, team cheers, colors, mascots, inside jokes, rituals, traditions, and culture all come together to represent who and what the 'team' is.
 
Rather than being the sum of its parts, every athlete, coach, parent, fan and individual associated with the team help make the team greater than the sum of its parts and add to its identity. Rather than cogs in a machine, each individual is a bird in the flock. The identity of the team is shaped and influenced by every single element associated with it.  A 'team' for all intents and purposes, is a complex adaptive system.

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