When I think of a “team,” the first thing that comes to mind is sports. Therefore, I will be discussing the
experience that I had in high school while playing club volleyball. Club volleyball, otherwise known as traveling
or competitive volleyball, is a high intensity team sport in which teammates
heavily rely on one another to be successful.
For those
of you who know nothing about volleyball, it is a sport in which teams of six
players compete against each other by moving a ball over the net between two
sides. The objective is to force the
ball onto the other team’s side and have it drop onto the ground, but each team
only has three touches to get the ball over the net, and a single player cannot
touch the ball twice in a row. However,
if one accomplishes this and the ball touches their opponent’s floor space,
they receive a point. To win a
volleyball game, one must receive 25 points and win by at least 2 points (so if
the score is 25-24, you would have to play another point and would win when
the score is 26-24).
Volleyball has
various positions, but to simplify things, in my description we will group
these players into three categories, back row players, front row players and
the setter. Back row players are often
the first people to touch the ball and their objective is to get the ball to
the setter. The setter is usually the
second person to touch the ball, and she places the ball so that the front row
players can use their third touch to hit the ball onto the opponent’s
side. The setter is oftentimes called
the “playmaker” because she acts as the connection between the front and back
row, and she can also initiate various plays for the team to carry out in their
three touches. Nonetheless,
communication between all team members is key.
It is crucial that players “call” the ball by saying the common phrase
“mine” in order to avoid confusion as to who is performing a touch. Additionally, everyone must know what is
occurring on the court and how to react to their competitor in the back row, front
row and setter positions.
I believe
that a successful volleyball team is an all-channel network. It demands that all team members communicate freely,
effectively and efficiently, because oftentimes, a team does not have time to
develop a thorough plan before executing its three touches. Players must also communicate where they are
moving to in order to aid the play. This
is crucial because without this communication players may run into each other and
become confused as to where their position is located on the court. Communication must also be open because sometimes, plays or touches don’t go as planned, and the said positions don’t
touch the ball when they are normally supposed to. This requires the team to adapt and work
together to solve a complicated situation and send the ball to the other
side.
A
successful team is also an all-channel network because morale is
characteristically high. Volleyball
teams oftentimes do cheers when they win a point and try to bring up their
energy in order to intimidate their opponent.
A strong team will keep their spirits high and encourage one another
throughout a game.
My club
volleyball team met many of Katzenbach and Smith’s characteristics of
high-functioning teams. First off, my
team had a common purpose that could be translated into specific goals. Each year, our goal was to receive an invitation
to compete in the USA National Volleyball Club tournament. One could receive this invitation by winning
so many tournaments in a season. Each
time we were successful at a tournament, we were able to see ourselves reaching
our goal. Besides this, my team was also
“of manageable size.” There were only 15 girls on my team, so it was easy to
communicate goals and organize ourselves.
Additionally, we accomplished Katzenbach and Smith’s fourth requirement because
we each had distinct talents. We were
selected for the team based on our ability to play in the back row, front row
and setter positions, so each player brought a specific skill set to the
team. Finally, we held each other
accountable. Coaches often say, “there’s
no ‘I’ in team,” and we were a perfect example of this. When someone was having a tough time on the
court or a bad day, we picked each other up.
We took wins and losses together and realized that each game truly was a
team effort and if we won, or lost, we did so together.
This essay started out very well, in your description of the of the functions and you description of the all-channel network as the way to consider how the team operates.
ReplyDeleteBut near the end, and perhaps it simply didn't occur to you, the situation becomes more complex because you said the team actually has 15 players, not just the six who have started. You discussed not at all how the reserves get utilized. Is there are rotation system so nobody on the floor gets too tired? Or do the starters stay in most of the time because they are better performers than the reserves?
Even if you just focused on the six girls who are on the court, there is still an "assignment problem" issue with who plays where. Is each player in the role they want to be in and are most proficient in? Or, again, is there a rotation. (I played volleyball a bit, not competitively just for fun, and we rotated through the positions.)
Near the end, you talk about the distinct talents, but because I have it in my head that there is some rotation, I'm not sure how the distinct talents map to team function, so you could have described that more.
Let me close with a sidebar. I'm aware that really good players get scholarships to college and that might serve as a different sort of motivation for some. Did you have any such athletes on your team? If so, did that help with the team play or make it harder?
Thanks for your comment, Professor Arvan. In competitive volleyball, there is a "rotation" as you describe it, but once front row players get to the back row and vice versa, they are subbed out. This means that each player is not playing an entire game and does get some sort of break. The same goes for the setter position. There is normally a "front row setter" and a "back row setter." Since competitive volleyball is a bit more complex, front and back row players each have specific places on the court (location-wise) that they play at regardless of their location in the front or back row; they always "shift" to this spot when play begins.
ReplyDeleteI did have athletes on my team that received scholarships to play in college, but this did not affect playing time at tournaments. On our team, it was well known that you must earn court time, and if you are playing poorly, you will be taken out of the game. Therefore, if the scholarship athletes were the most qualified for playing time in a certain tournament, they received it, however, this was not always the case.