Building connections among players

According to many studies, the primary reason that many females engage in sport is to nurture a sense of belonging. Building a sense of community among the team can be an important factor in overall performance and player retention (Reference 2).

To retain connections to the team, coaches should be careful about using methods that separate players from the group or reduce the solidarity of the team, such as punishing individual players, highlighting players’ mistakes publicly, and only celebrating the better players.

It is normal for players to have stronger connections to some teammates, and perhaps not form lasting friendships with every other player. It is important to watch for players building their own group within the team, if that group excludes or is hurtful to other team members.

Guidelines on building a sense of community:

• Arrange for players to get to know more about each other, and socialize away from the field.
• Address any negative cliques that might exclude other or be mean to other players.
• Have common causes and values that the team supports, inside or outside of rugby.
• Establish themes or symbols (music, clothing, movies, team mascot, etc.) that are unique to your group and give them a common identity.
• Have players share what they can contribute to the team on and off the field and what they hope to receive from the team.