3 minute read
Back to the Basics
Back to Basics
GETTING BACK TO WHAT SPORTS ARE REALLY FOR
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By AJ Fandrem Jennifer T. Mull-Brooks, who graduated with a masters and is now a principal at Congin Elementary School in Portland, Maine Metropolitan Area, majoring in Leadership Studies at the University of Southern Maine, wrote a thesis on the idea of how team bonding relates to their success. The thesis described a baseball team that’s players were very diverse. Some players came from different socioeconomic areas and different friend groups. They got into fights constantly and the coach didn’t know how to fix it until one of the teachers suggested that they do some team bonding. The coach not only made the team watch inspiring movies about how real teams overcame their differences to win, but reached out to the families and made
small bonds with them after games. This changed the team chemistry and led to their season improving and them winning more of their games. In the spring of 2020, in the middle of the sports season, everything came to a halt because of COVID-19. Before all the sports were shut down, there were lots of sports where the teams would have traditions for the freshman and other new teammates. A lot of these traditions had been postponed because of state or school guidelines, leaving some people worried about the future of their sport and the team’s traditions dying out. Since then state and school guidelines have started to loosen up for our sports teams to give them the ability to carry on these traditions. With in-person school being back in session the sports teams are able to be together even more making it easy to start new traditions because of the mixing of different classes outside of the sport. “Creepy Cat… she’s an old doll but she’s been around for almost 10 years,” senior Hailey McCree said. “She’s our mascot so we bring her to every game.” To the team, she is like a little good luck charm. When asked if she had a favorite memory with the team, she stood up a little straighter as if to get more breath for an exciting story. “Honestly the bus rides are really fun, we normally tell a whole bunch of scary stories and stuff on our way to and from games.” This shows that not all of the best memories with your team are made when off the field or out of uniform. When it comes to team bonding, they have an approach that isn’t unusual but still seems to be effective.
“We’ve been doing a lot more as a team… a lot of us are in a group now instead of separated.” This form of class incorporation will help keep the traditions that the current seniors and juniors have had stay around for a little longer. It also helps with helping the freshman and sophomores feel more comfortable and be able to communicate with upperclassmen if they play with varsity in the future.
DO FANS REALLY HAVE AN AFFECT ON THE GAMES
“Athletes may say they are immune to fans, but we know better.” Daniel L. Wann, the leader of the Association of Applied Sports Psychology Special Interest Group on Fandom. In college football or basketball fan behavior has a somewhat large effect on how the game plays out. In basketball the other team’s fans may start a chant or just make loud sounds to distract the player about to shoot a free throw. In football the opposing team may have to take a timeout because they can’t hear each other due to the large number of fans noise which can reach volumes of 80-90 decibels. 70dB over a prolonged period can cause damage to hearing, this would make it extremely hard to hear play calls or the coaches. Studies have shown that fans who make a connection with local teams usually have better social connections with other people. Identifying with your local teams has also been shown in studies to have lower rates of depression, feelings of loneliness, and feelings of alienation. Being in the stands with like minded sports fans can lead to high energy levels, more trust in people, and a more positive feeling in your societal life.
