Team Chemistry

http://youtu.be/ZEIoNu4XOYY

This video talks to a couple of volleyball players and the coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols Volleyball team and how they believe that their team chemistry is.
One thing that they talk about is how the team bonded over the summer by playing on summer teams and just getting to know one another over that time.  They would spend a lot of time over the summer together on and off the court which helped out a lot with their team chemistry as well.  When you get to know people off the court it is easier to get along with them when you are on the court because you have a bonding expirence with them.
Another concept that the coach brought up was the teams identity.  Every team wants to be recgonized as a certain type of team, hopefully not to be recgonized as a disorganized team.  The coach talked about how it took some time for everyone to get along or get used to everyone else, but eventually the players knew one another and could count on each other to work as a team.
The last thing that is important to team chemistry is that team bonding experiences.  The last players talks about going on the road and being able to bond with the team.  Team road trips are always the best part of any season because that is when you get to really know your team mates.  When you are on the court you are all equals and should be obeying what coach tells you, but of the court that is when you can be your true self and get to know the real side of people.

Team Roles

According to Mark Eys et. al. there are two types of roles with in a team: formal and informal.  Formal roles are those set by the group, leader examples would be coach, manager, and team capatin, and performance examples would be setter/spiker in volleyball or guard/post in basketball (Eys et. al., 2010, p137).   These roles must be set by the team and the people in these roles must know what is expected of them.  For the leaders they must be willing to be in that leader position and know that everyone will be looking up to them for assistance and they must know how to handle different situations.  For example the team capatian is usually picked by a combination of what the coaches and players think a leader should be.  Those people will usually be the ones that represent the team and what it stands for on and off the floor.  It may be a lot of pressure for some people and so that may not be their role on the team, but other they are willing to be in that position because it is what they are used to doing and are happy to represent their teammates.
The informal roles are those that people evolve into as a result of their interactions among the team (Eys et. al., 2010, p. 137).  Informal roles include the non-vocal/lead by example leader, the task booster/spark plug/ cataylst, social convener, team player, and comedian (Eys et. al., 2010, p137).  These players usually have different personalities according to their different roles, like the non-vocal leader will probably be the one that is there 30 minutes before practice and 30 minutes after or the comedian who no one can be mad at because they are always joking around.  Different personality types will lead people into their different roles, whether they realize it or not.  Usually those people have different situations that they are best suited for as well, like the cataylst is usually put in when the team needs a little bit of a boost.

So overall the different roles for people can either be elected for them or just be in it because of their personalities.  These roles are best used for different situations during games or practices, or even outside of the sports they are playing.  The players and coach must be able to recgonize what their roles are and be able to utilize them effectively so that they benefit the team as a whole.




References
Eys, Mark A., Burke, Shauna M, Albert, Carron V., Dennis, Paul W. (2010). The Sport Team as an Effective Group.  Applied Sport Psychology, 6, 137.