Team Bonding
Life on the Hill: Bison Blog
This past week I was reminded of the importance of team bonding. Team bonding is practiced by family every day, and in my family of 14, the exercises can range anywhere from watching a movie or going on vacation to cleaning the house. As an OBU athlete, I see my team as a large family; in cheer we are constantly challenged to trust each other with different stunts, pushing our skills to the next level. I was introduced to the idea that maybe every team here at OBU practices different sorts of team bonding.
We recently had our GO trip retreat, where all of the kids from OBU who are planning on going on a mission trip with GO met in Montgomery Hall to talk about the trips and discuss the important tools they would need to assess their teams. In that retreat I learned that I am a very accepting, artistic individual. I also learned that there are some intellectual people on my team and some more physically inclined to help with hands-on tasks.
This sort of bonding experience helped make each of us more familiar with one another. Without this bonding, there is no telling how we would work together when we entered our designated areas. For a team to work they have to know each other. If we work toward the same goal, then we will be more apt to desire everyone’s success. This is the same the other way. If we did not know each other and had never entered a time of bonding, then it would be less trying on our hearts when someone on our team were to fail.
I also saw, this past week, the track team working on a bonding exercise. This was one of the most creative ways to get a team on the same page than I have ever seen. The project given to each group was to make a lip synching video; this could include songs anywhere from Miley Cyrus “Wrecking Ball” to Billy Joel’s “Piano Man.” It was my pleasure to help film and put together one of these videos. This was an interesting time with athletes that I hadn’t met before, but it was an awesome way to meet people and be a part of their bonding experience. This challenge was accepted by about five to six groups of people on the OBU track team and many of the videos can be found on Youtube in the link below.
I am happy to see that there are still coaches and teams that understand how crucial it is to continue to bond together and keep everyone included. Everyone is a part of some type of team and everyone should have the opportunity to exercise some sort of bonding practices!
Different bonding ideas can include: Lip sync video, personality tests, watching a scary or emotional movie, game nights, or even the classic trust fall.
Life on the Hill: Bison Blog
