By Scott Ashton
The most powerful group-relational strategies tend to be those which create opportunities for teams to serve others away from the sport. This 2nd dimension strategy will help the team bond closer together, but it will also help foster 3rd dimension growth by strengthening character and giving all who serve a since of value, significance and purpose beyond the playing field.
I found a wonderful way to grow team cohesion on our college baseball team of 28 players. I wanted to create an opportunity for them to serve others, so I reached out to our local Salvation Army who was needing help sorting out all of the food that was donated for the Christmas giveaway season.
Many of the players were not to excited as they loaded the bus on that Saturday morning at 7:30 AM. As we arrived at the facility, we found a mountain of food thrown together in a heap on the floor of a dingy basement. I split the team into two groups: pitchers and position players. The pitchers were sorting the food from the pile and distributing it to the position players who encircled them with tables. One guy had the green beans, one guy had the corn etc. The food cans started flying and a couple of hours later it was all sorted into nice piles and placed into bags.
The players had to work together to figure out a efficient strategy, and they came up with a great one. Every guy felt great walking back to the bus. The team bonded in a way we hadn’t ever before we took the time to serve others. It feels amazing when you know you helped others. One of the kids that didn’t want to be there at the beginning said to me afterwards, ‘Coach, what else can we do?’
What started out as a desire to use a group of young men to help others ended up being a powerful strategy to bring us closer as a team. From that point forward, we had a brotherhood.
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