Building Team Bonding: Taking the Steps to Success

19 December 2024Savannah J, Alexandra ‘25

As the weather gets colder and the roads freeze, so does ice on the rink, signalling the start of the Brentwood Girls’ 2024/25 hockey season.

Since hockey is a team sport, bonding is crucial when understanding the complexity of the game. Hockey is a dynamic, quick sport that requires constant communication on a team and trust in one another. As players move swiftly on and off the ice in order to prevent mayhem, trust allows for reliance on teammates to do their job and to help each other by sharing the responsibility. In order to build trust in a team, it’s important to get to know each other off the ice, which is exactly what the Girls hockey did!

On October 23, both the advanced and development players enjoyed a rainy walk towards one goal: ice cream. Coach Sean Hacker Teper put it best: “Ice cream is the cheat code to team bonding.” He also added, ‘Nothing like getting soaked in the rain together to build morale. In his words, the challenge builds morale, and the reward – ice cream – brings the team together to celebrate their shared experience.” Pearl N, Hope ‘25 says, “Ice cream wasn’t even the best part. It was talking to new people and agonizing together over the rain.”

As the season quickly ramps up, the team must be prepared to take on the term with full concentration and cohesion on and off the ice. Beatrice B, Mackenzie ‘25 expressed, “As the team comes together, it is vital to learn more about each other and work as one.” Major League Baseball teams like the Yankees, the New York Mets, and even the Toronto Blue Jays use team bonding activities like sharing rooms and outdoor activities to build a team as one and drive them to success.

They should also consider ice cream!

Although the Brentwood Girls Ice Hockey team is not on the national level, yet, team bonding is still essential when either learning the sport of ice hockey, or refining your skills to the next level.

Savannah J, Alexandra ‘25

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