Teams, Athletic and Non- LO6910

K.C. Burgess Yakemovic (kcby@gpsi.com)
Tue, 23 Apr 1996 09:04:25 -0500

Replying to LO6880 --

This topic interests me -- in part because I believe that the little
'training' most people get in teamwork comes from the sports field. And
that some sports require more teamwork than others. Soccer is a good
example.

Barry speaks of 18-19 year old soccer players. At this point my
experience is with younger ones... and from an observers standpoint only.

My almost 8 year old daughter has been playing for 3 years now. This
season the coach of her team decided to change leagues.

In her "old" league, they had progressed over the three year period from
playing 4 on a side with no positions to about 7 on a side, with
positions. In the "new" league, her age group still plays 4 on a side,
with no positions. (I have been told that there are philosophical issues
among people teaching kids soccer as to whether kids under 10 years old
_should_ play positions or not. This had nothing to do with the decision
to change leagues, however.)

In the new league, she scores much more frequently -- at least once per
game. But interestingly enough, she doesn't like the current situation.
In spite of having complained in the old situation about having to play
defense and not getting to score. She nowwants to go back to playing
positions... and especially wants someone to be a goalie! (Specifically
responsible for 'last ditch' defense.)

Watching this occur lead me to wonder how much comfort there is, even in
young people, in 'structure'. Whether hierarchy... or something else
known. And whether there will come a time when non-hierarchical
organizations will have the same 'comfort' level as hierarchical
organizations have today.

On the other hand, perhaps humans just like to grumble about their current
situation. :-)

-- 
kcby


   K.C. Burgess Yakemovic         Group Performance Systems, Inc.
   kcby@gpsi.com                      http://www.gpsi.com


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