SIMSANITY: Importance of Teamwork: An Asset to Athletes

SIMEON LAM
Staff Writer

In today’s society, athletes from high school to college to professional sports are judged based on their individual skills and statistics. In fact, professional basketball players like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant are known as some of the best players in the world. The truth is that, without the rest of the team working together, their chances of a successful career would’ve been less probable. People fail to realize that “there’s no I in team” and tend to overlook the emphasis of teamwork.

Looking at professional sports today, we have seen athletes come together to have a better chance at winning a championship. Unfortunately, these heavily favored teams have failed to reach such high expectations immediately. In 2011, when the ‘Big Three’ was formed, the Miami Heat failed to win a championship in their first year together because they lacked the most important concept: team chemistry.

However, it was evident that they had improved their teamwork, winning back-to-back titles the following years. Even though these athletes train hard to get better individually, teamwork is necessary because it allows players to unite into a true team. With teamwork, players are able to trust each other, motivate each other and keep each other accountable. All these traits serve as the foundation of a team.

As teamwork benefits the team holistically, it surprisingly also benefits each athlete’s confidence. Even though athletes practice hard to get better, confidence levels are very important to their performance. Teamwork helps all athletes because one player to carry a team unit. Instead, each player has a specific role with less pressure, leading to a more relaxed and confident athlete. When playing as individuals, the team is vulnerable to be easily defeated, but with teamwork, it takes a much tougher opponent to defeat them all.

As teams around the world continue to compete, it’s important that we don’t focus too much on their individual skills and statistics. Inevitably, the true strength of a team relies on its teamwork to succeed.