Team chemistry is incredibly important in the success of the team and in somebody’s experience, whether as a coach or as a player. And I think team chemistry really starts with leadership and it is going to start with leadership from the coaching staff but it also is going straight through to the team. And something that we do at Hopkins that I feel very strongly about is we encourage our older players to really take care of our younger players and we have developed over the years an understanding that our big girls, it is their job to take care of the little ones and they really buy in to that. Instead of feeling intimidated or threatened by our younger players or our younger recruits, our older players are welcoming, and they feel like it is their responsibility to take care of, to nurture to, to develop our younger players. And I think that is really where the basis where team chemistry comes from is recognition that the girls have to take care of each other and I think that is our basis here at Hopkins. From that, you are going to really see your leaders develop; you are going to see how leadership can be encouraged from the older girls down to the younger girls, and from the coaching staff down to the team.
I think a lot of that comes from communication. We really stress that the players are able to communicate with the coaches and vice versa and most importantly, that the players communicate with one another. I think that that is something that, especially when you are dealing with women, can be very interesting but if you really encourage that culture for girls to be able to talk to each other. Good and bad, on and off the field, stress that level of communication that is really where team chemistry can really flourish and develop.
When you have players who are superstars on your team or who receive a lot of playing time, it is very important that they demonstrate tremendous respect for their teammates who maybe do not get as much playing time yet, or are younger and are developing. And I think that is something that we find that is very important, is for our role players, our supporting players who maybe have not quite earned the starting spot yet, that they see the value to their level of contribution to our team. We will not win as a team unless we have every single player no matter what her level of contribution, no matter what her talent level, all on the same page actually fighting for, working towards the team’s uccess.
I think that is most important for a coach to stress that it is not about the individuals, it is about the teams’ success and that as individuals, we make up how that team is going to be successful. It is really important that every player is made to feel like they are contributing and I think what that means that, as a coach, if I am spending time with maybe one of our most talented players, and who solidified a starting spot, working on her shooting, working on her dodging, I better be spending the exact same amount of time with some of my support players, with my role players, working on their skills, working on their level of improvement because that is how I think the players recognize and understand that they are respected, that they are appreciated and that they are contributing and I think that is something that really helps in the development of team chemistry and in keeping some of your supporting cast members very happy.
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