There are far less natural athletes than there are people who play sports. It takes a certain type of person, cut from a different type of cloth, to be thrust into a game foreign to them and excel. On any given team, they will be so lucky (or more precisely, the coach should be), to have one such athlete. Even then, one player cannot carry a team to success. How, then, do teams without such players succeed at all? Simply put, they must work together as a team. However, the definition of a team goes far beyond having a complete roster.

First, and arguably most importantly, every person on the team must know their role and attempt to fulfill it. For example, take a car engine. Each individual piece has its own small role. Take any item out of the equation, and the engine as a whole ceases to function. A team is like the engine in this manner. If one person doesn’t do their job, the wheels are destined to come off at any moment. However, when everyone does their job, the team should run swimmingly.

Next, a team must be enthusiastic. Most spectators have seen a team show up and have absolutely no energy from leaving the bus, to entering, to warming up- perhaps you have even been part of one of these teams. As a fan, it can be painful to watch. As a player, it is even more painful. Being the more enthusiastic group provides an advantage before either team steps off the bus. Enthusiasm is incredibly contagious. When one team’s bench is fully focused on the game and supporting their teammates, while the other team’s bench looks as though someone has been shot, that team now faces an uphill battle that they created themselves.

In any team activity, the most important roles for athletes are doing your specific job and being encouraging to your teammates. These two tasks alone will put your team in a position to succeed.