Teamwork – Important Aspect in Today’s World

In almost all sports teamwork is required to reach a competitive level. Teamwork is more than bringing people together to participate in an activity or sport. Teamwork allows a competitive drive to accomplish something within a group rather in a single individual. “Teamwork is formed by transforming an aggregate of skillful individuals into a coordinated and cooperative social group” (Halldorsson, V., Thorlindsson, T., & Katovich, M. A., 2017, p. 1). Without teamwork in sports very little can be achieved.

Teamwork is defined as being a “cooperative or coordinated effort on the part of a group of persons acting together as a team or in the interests of a common cause” (Teamwork). Teamwork is also a collection of basic skills and personal characteristics that can be developed at the youth age when parents sign their kids up for youth sports. Some of these basic skills and personal characteristics consist of learning how to build trust, commitment, and competitive nature. Learning these skills early in ones sporting career can help an individual in future seasons as these skills can be sought after from numerous coaches. These skills are an important aspect of teamwork as it can lead to a positive effect on team culture, team cohesion and leadership within the team. (Halldorsson, V., Thorlindsson, T., & Katovich, M. A., 2017, p. 2&3)

According to Stanford Daily, the most important skill or characteristic that teamwork builds is motivation or the ability to motivate other individuals within a team (The Importance of Teamwork in Sports, 2014). Motivation allows for a team to feel challenged and creates a drive within an individual or team that can help achieve one or multiple goals. Stanford Daily also believe that “to be successful a teams coach must spend a good amount of time in order to foster teamwork within their team. Without teamwork, nothing can be achieved as a group” (The Importance of Teamwork in Sports, 2014).

Teamwork the past couple of decades has been forgotten in sports. Through the creation of social media and technology teamwork has been downplayed. Today most individuals believe if their not the best player or individual on his or her team that a college or team won’t recruit them because everyone is only looking for the next LeBron James or Aaron Rodgers. Evidence of this can also be seen in a family structure as parents are often to create a false or cognitive belief of a superior image for their child or children.

Although teamwork has been downplayed for the past couple of decades you do see instances where teamwork was the key part to a team’s success. A key example of teamwork would be in 2004 when the Detroit Pistons were able to win the National Basketball Association, NBA, Finals. The Pistons’ lacking an all-star figure was able to defeat NBA Hall of Famers Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant’s Lakers. After defeating the Lakers, head coach Larry Brown said “This sport is about players playing the right way and showing kids that you can be a team and be successful and it's great for our league” (“Top Moments: Pistons shock NBA world, win championship in 2004”, 2017). Teamwork was the building blocks of this team, the general manager and head coach Larry Brown built this team by finding individuals who could work together as a team and motivate each other despite being the obvious underdog.

Another example of teamwork is the core of a team in the past would be with the 1980 U.S. hockey team. The 1980 U.S. hockey team was a team made up of college players that worked together to defeat the four-time defending gold medal-winning Soviet team. This event was later called the ‘Miracle on Ice’ and showed how individuals with high knowledge of teamwork and some motivation can possibly be better than a team full of world-class athletes. (U.S. hockey team beats the Soviets in the 'Miracle on Ice', 2009)

A sociological theory that Halldorsson, Thorlindsson, and Katovich goes over Mead’s theory of intersubjective social reality. Mead’s theory stress that “simultaneous performance and the social nature of the self can serve as the groundwork for systematic analysis of teamwork that often becomes translated into specific objectives that individuals recognize literally and appreciate symbolically as a product of collective effort” (Halldorsson, V., Thorlindsson, T., & Katovich, M. A., 2017, p. 3). Mead is saying that when an individual puts forth on a task that can be achieved by more than one person and all people can get a feel of self-actualization that people are often willing to step in and work as a team to finish or achieve a goal. This can be seen in several instances of sports today at all levels. For instance when the Golden State Warriors acquired Demarcus Cousins this off-season of the NBA. Cousins joined the Warriors because they have demonstrated their ability to work as a team and are the likely team to win the NBA Finals this year.

Another Sociological theory that applies to teamwork in sports would be the Durkheim theory. Durkheim believes in social solidarity by showing how solidarity and cohesion are generated through interaction rituals, impression management, and self-presentation (Halldorsson, V., Thorlindsson, T., & Katovich, M. A., 2017, p. 4). This can make teamwork seem more like an agreement between parties to achieve a goal or objective to establish a sense of self-actualization. These theories show that an individual is more likely to join a team or organization for self-actualization making teamwork seem more like a personality trait or skill.

Teamwork is one of the most important traits of an athlete as it can help establish one's career. Although teamwork in the past decade has been downplayed by all-star talents and the media. Teamwork is a key building block for any team that wants to thrive. For an athlete, teamwork could be an intriguing trait to show to a college scout or professional scout that might stand out from other players.

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