702 Paintball

On team work, it’s pretty simple really; a group of players that can form the team or a group of individuals that compliment with each other’s skills.  Of course that’s a very basic look at teamwork, but that’s what all team based sports are about, putting together the perfect machine.  Although the concept is easy, the application is very challenging.  One would assume that if you put seven talented players on a field and they understand the value of team work then they would automatically fall into a tight knit team. To have or to make the perfect team, you must first understand all of the parts as individuals and then put them back in to place as a team. Once all the players are in their place, then they need to work together to achieve a common goal.  What generally happens when you get a group of talented people together either they all try and go out and win individually or they all wait for someone else to win the game for them.  A team is just that- everyone needs to know what their role is and some players are game winners where as some are support players.

Building a team and then making that team into the best that it can be is one of the hardest things that we do in our sport.  Sometimes it happens naturally.  On the rare occasions this happens there is very little that needs to be done to shape the direction of the team.  When problems arise you address them and move on.  More commonly what happens is that we try to build a team and we fail.  Hopefully by failing a number of times we learn from our mistakes and do a little better the next time.  Now assuming you have done this, and you have a team, it’s only as strong as it’s weakest link.  Assuming that you have really good players and a really good team you’re going to go out and play against others that have really good players and a really good team.  When this happens you start to notice the weak links in your team.  Once you have figured out who the weak links are, you need to address the problem.  The short term solution is to cut the dead weight and get someone new in.  This is easier said than done. 

Everyone always evaluates performance simply on how well players perform.  There is so much more to the team dynamic.  Does this player get along with the other players ? Does he contribute off the field? is he positive? etc..

If building a top team was this easy , then everyone would do it.  It’s only because it’s so challenging that it’s so worth trying to do it.  Only a few teams have been built from the ground up and done well.  No one has been able to do it overnight or had instant success.  There are always going to be trials and tribulations but that’s how we learn and grow.  If you have the money, time and patience, then I recommend going out there and trying to do the impossible- build the perfect team and rule the world if only for a season or two, or from then on.