Building team moral and bonding

pondhockey · Post by **pondhockey** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 9:29 am

Bringing the JV and Varsity players together is an important part of team moral and bonding and I'm wondering what other teams are doing to get their players together off the ice. I'm sure everyone has the pasta feeds. Our team has decorated t-shirts, had secret santa's, and spent the night at the arena together. Any other fun ideas out there?

boblee · Post by **boblee** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 10:00 am

I don't really have an idea...but I will say team morale is a huge part of not only hockey, but daily life.

rubberpickle · Post by **rubberpickle** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 10:08 am

it could be a good idea to have a "bonding night" of sorts... like every friday night the whole team goes out to eat or to a movie or just hangs out at someones house

rchhcky · Post by **rchhcky** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 10:24 am

Our team does a variety of events aside from hockey. Our coaches believe in not only commitment to the sport/team, but also in civic responsibility. Therefore we have done bell ringing, rotate in pairs to assist at youth hockey practices & worked at Ronald McDonald House, just to name a few. The team has done a sleepover, a movie, canoeing & curling. About half of the extras have been attended/spearheaded by the coaches & the rest by the captains. The parents lead by example & also do socials & help with some of what's listed above. All the extras are optional (except civic responsibility is emphasized), but we have great attendance at all. We have been involved in a variety of varsity sports over the years, but this team has extraordinary chemistry in spite of not being the at the top of the pack in w-l record. Several players are planning DIII hockey in the future & should do well as they all have the "team" concept down pat.

SportsMa · Post by **SportsMa** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:05 am

It sounds like the team described above is learning so much more about life than simply hockey! Way to go to all of those involved!!

theref · Post by **theref** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 12:23 pm

Anything that also helps out the community is good. Bagging groceries some saturday, carwashes. The one I really like is the Cloquet boys and girls go to the mini mite practices and skate with the kids, helping them learn how to skate.

hockeyrube7 · Post by **hockeyrube7** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 12:50 pm

Any team bonding of any kind is a great thing! Wish we would see more of this, it makes a huge difference! Unfortunately, a lot of teams tend to seperate the Varsity from the JV, completely seperate practice times, and even take a seperate bus to the same sight.

lovetopuck · Post by **lovetopuck** » Thu Jan 11, 2007 10:28 pm

hockeyrube7 wrote:Any team bonding of any kind is a great thing! Wish we would see more of this, it makes a huge difference! Unfortunately, a lot of teams tend to seperate the Varsity from the JV, completely seperate practice times, and even take a seperate bus to the same sight.

the seperation is unfortante indeed, especilly the bus part. i think team sleep overs are benifical, and various charity events mentioned before. one of my close friends Bill Mericio (assistant girls coach at irondale) has his team skate with younger children teaching them how to skate also. i think a team can flourish if they're learning as much about life as hockey.

pondhockey · Post by **pondhockey** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 3:48 pm

rchhcky -
Your team sounds like a wonderful group of young ladies who are very involved in their community and with each other. I appreciate your post ideas.

Anyone else out there with ideas on something fun the whole group can do together for our girls? I'm looking for ideas for them that maybe they could do at someone's house, but we're open to other suggestions as well.
Perhaps some suggestions on an activity or game that can be played with twenty-some people inside?

petomwendo · Post by **petomwendo** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 8:42 pm

going to an indoor roller rink could be fun. bowling is also great. i know a team that goes to a U of M women's game every year. skating with younger kids is an awesome way to build a program as well as bridge any possible gap between age groups. skating on an outdoor rink is always nice classic fun.