Personal events that are unpleasant may occur in anyone of your teammates’ lives. These events can often affect how your teammate will play and how successful the team will be in competition. When any of your teammates are coping with these events, or trying to recoup from them, they will need your support.
That’s none of my business. It’s her problem.
Someone told me she brought that on herself.
I don’t want people to stop talking to me because I’m around her.
I can’t help.
The above should never be said by a teammate about another teammate.
Your team is your family.
Members of an ideal family have relational bonds between them and they will do whatever it takes to keep those bonds strong. It is those bonds that help members to withstand and overcome anything that will try to destroy them. With each member being supported, the family can function successfully.
Remember teams whose members have strong relationships are hard to defeat.
So, when either of your teammates is going through a difficult time, your main objective is to strengthen the relationship you have with them and eliminate anything that jeopardizes that relationship.
Therefore, I encourage you to support your teammates to strengthen the bonds between you and them.
Show your teammates they are not alone. When others ostracize or isolate themselves from them, continue to include them in your life. Increase your communication with them.
Show your teammates they’re still important. Let them know you value them by protecting their reputation. Discourage gossip about them. When others bring gossip about them, don’t entertain it by listening to it. Say things positive about your teammates to deflect from gossip. Remember you don’t want to support or entertain anything that will tear any of your teammates down. You want to always build them up. This action reassures each of your teammates that you will not contribute to more degradation of their character.
In other words, don’t let the situations your teammates are experiencing ruin the relationships you have. All of you need each other.
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Browse my website geralinelhandsome.com (Athlete’s Voice to Integrity) for more information about how to become a super athlete.
About the Author: Geraline L. Handsome has developed a passion to help high school and college athletes of team sports discover their identity. She is a former Women’s Basketball Player for the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). There she earned a B.S. degree in chemistry/mathematics. She has a MBA from the University of Phoenix. She is an Environmental Scientist and the mother of two. She is the author of the book Sins of One Woman’s Mind and was a Huffington Post Contributor.
Geraline L. Handsome has developed the Creating the Super Athlete Course (Audio/Video), a product designed to help parents and coaches help their athletes develop attitudes and character that will enable them to perform better in their sport, in the classroom, and in public.
