The importance of Vibe

On the sidelines of sports fields, in the columns of newspapers and out of the mouths of coaches all over, you hear talk of how the ‘spirit in the camp’ is so great, and ‘it’s so much fun to be playing in this team’. In the days of professionalism and as results of sports matches become ever more important in terms of financial impact, it can be easy to lose sight of the importance of team spirit. But there is no doubt that it has a huge influence on the way teams play.


This last weekend I went away with a rugby team that I’ll be working with this year, on a team-building weekend. This was an opportunity for the guys to bond, relax together, and be put through their paces on the rugby field. I also conducted a few sessions on mental preparation as well as facilitating their goal setting session. It was massively encouraging to hear them talk about their ‘vibe’ in the team and the respect that they have for each other being important, rather than putting figures of desired wins and uncontrollable aspects up on the list of important things. Reading an interview with Bafana Bafana Midfielder, Steven Pienaar, he spoke of the great team spirit at Everton FC and how that encourages him to stay there and seek success. So many teams seem to place an importance on this team spirit, but one wonders how much effort they put into creating that spirit, and deciding on desired team behaviours- and then sticking to them! There is no doubt that sport can create some of the greatest bonds people will ever have, but these like any relationship need to be worked on, and a team as a whole need to place extra effort into creating this special team spirit.

Why, you may ask? Surely if everyone just plays to the best of their ability the team will succeed? I believe firstly, that team spirit alone is not enough to make a team successful. It must co-exist with effective and efficient processes within the team as run by the management staff and of course the players themselves, as well as specific inspirational goals and outputs that all are aware of and can attain. The mixture, of spirit, processes and outputs all bound together by solid and strong leadership is what leads to success.

The true impact of that team spirit, I believe comes on a more subconscious level. Without doubt, it is different at a professional level where money can be a motivator for some, but I choose to look at the purest form of sport, where people undertake sacrifices, driven by their specific internal motivators to play their particular sport for no monetary gain. Some people’s driver to play and work hard in their sport is stronger than others’ but this is another subject for another day. When it comes to putting in just that slight bit of extra effort at a practice session, or sacrificing another desirable activity because of your sporting commitments - these are often determined by your perception of team spirit and togetherness. If one looks at getting more out of people than they ‘need’ to give this is often determined by their feeling of belonging to a team and this feeling is often borne out of a strong team spirit. In my opinion, so many teams train the same, think the same and have access to a similar standard of facilities, that the true variable apart from the obvious, the players ability, is the team spirit that you are able to foster causing people to push themselves that extra mile, without complaint or fear of being ridiculed. The spirit that enables people to feel so comfortable with their team mates that they are able to perform to a level that is above what they thought they were capable of, the spirit that creates an atmosphere in the team where outside criticism is not as important as internal criticism and where players take joy out of each others’ success and not just their own.

For me it is never easy to put a generic method together on how to forge this spirit, due to the variability of people, but there are some common traits that I believe can forge a good team spirit in chronological order.

1. The acknowledgement by the team, that a team spirit is important and that they’ll work hard to put in place desirable behaviours to lead to a good spirit.
2. The discussion around what is necessary to create a good spirit, and the setting of values and behaviours.
3. Strong leadership from coach and captain that keeps everyone focused and happy within the team environment. This leadership also needs to allow for people to have their say and should be caring of people’s needs.
4. An environment that encourages people to push themselves hard, but also rewards success well.
5. An environment where people are honest with each other.
6. The determination of everyone to pursue their goals, with fun being a key part of the process.

Good luck!
T