Creating Culture

It has been an action pack first four days.  It is Thursday already and we have spent a lot of time just getting to know the team and the team to know us.  One of the biggest area we have been working on is becoming a great Canadian by overcoming a Canadian.

I know that sounds confusing but for us it is very true.  We had an incredible meeting with our sport psychologist, Adrienne Toogood, who did a tremendous job laying a foundation for the team.  We had a very emotional and inspirational meeting.  In there every player had a chance to talk about how they feel representing their country.  All of the athletes are incredibly exited and proud to have this opportunity to represent Canada.  They are very respectful of one another and are extremely polite.

Very respectful and extremely polite is what we strive for off the court, now we have to changed that on the court.  That is overcoming Canadian.  We need to create a culture of competition and challenge.  We  want our team to fight hard for every point and know they are willing to outwork anyone once the game start.  Culture.

Our team is a very quiet team, we have players who come from programs where they are very successful playing this way.  In the month we have to train we won't always know what each other is thinking and how they are reacting.  Compare this experience to playing along someone for five years, they will know your tendencies and will know what you need for a quick fix if you fall into a bit of a slump.

Another big part of our culture is learning to communicate with each other.  One of the players used the term look me in the eyes.  Looking in the teammates eyes does so much, and as polite Canadians we are taught to look away when we are in trouble or do something wrong.  But a look in the eyes will create confidence in your teammates and will allow teammates to empower you with confidence. 

So we set up drills in our warm-ups that create some chaos situations where they need to talk their way out of it.  Explain some drills where the answer is figure it out.  The more as a group we learn to talk and problem solve the more autonomous we can become.  Which would lead us back to the old sit on the bench and let them go. 

After our meeting we have a better understanding of each other and that will help people begin to trust each other, which in turns allows people the freedom to communicate freely.  The last point on culture that I would like to mention for now is Alain's quote: You are responsible to make this a memorable summer, don't wait for friendships and experience to happen create them!  Now for me to take that into my life.