The highlight was when a “Marriage Be Hard” book from last year’s White Elephant was regifted to a freshman. The seniors were in stitches — we’d all known which bag contained the book and wanted to prank an underclassman. Dau later revealed a mug that came with the book, so nobody went home disappointed. The team signed the marriage book to pass down next year as a tradition.
Our annual holiday tournament — this year’s being in Baltimore — is just one way our team encourages camaraderie, and it’s everyone’s favorite. From playing “Never Have I Ever” past midnight to shopping around Inner Harbor the next morning, there’s no better way to build our team culture.
Camaraderie is crucial to success. While we all have the same team goals of winning and making it far in the playoffs, there will always be controversy over playing time, game strategy, and the role each player holds. Conflict is inevitable, but when we’re all close friends, these clashes don’t fracture the team.
“Everyone is so encouraging,” junior forward Amanda Gershoni said. “This is the most fun team I’ve been on, and it shows that we can be competitive without being toxic.”
Additionally, we play and pass better when we trust and respect one another. This was evident in our 63-38 win against Paint Branch on Jan. 8, when we had 23 assists and high energy for the full 32 minutes.
There’s a chicken-or-egg question in sports: Does winning foster team spirit or does team spirit foster winning? The answer is clear when I reflect on the season thus far.
We’re 8-3. One of our losses was a heartbreaker, 51-50, against Sherwood. When a game is that close, it’s common for people to get down on themselves. What if I had just made that one basket? Or perhaps, even blame others. If only my teammate didn’t turn the ball over …
That postgame atmosphere can brew animosity. A player once cursed at me during a timeout for not passing them the ball, and it has stuck with me since. Yelling at one another may work for some teams — one of the boys’ team captains told me pointing fingers is common and pushes them to work harder — but for us, blaming teammates is a losing game we’d rather avoid.
We’ve learned to win and lose as a team. There’s taking personal accountability but never an accusation. Criticism should be constructive and can be kept private. If we sense a teammate is being too hard on themself, we lift them up. The next day, we practice hard to continuously improve.
Sure, winning makes team spirit much easier, but you’d be surprised at how easily this spirit can dissipate after a loss. The sting of a teammate’s frustration often hurts worse than the loss itself, and that feeling can linger in future games, affecting performance.
“When it comes to a team sport like basketball, being successful requires so much more than talent,” senior guard Kayden Siegal said. “It requires cohesion, and a lack of cohesion is more fixable when everyone has a desire to fix it.”
This year, senior co-captain Emma Karlin and I have been working to strengthen our team cohesion on and off the court. Usually, the off-court moments are just as important as the on-court ones, if not more important.
In the fall, we brainstormed ideas for the season, including a calendar of themes for game days, team lunches for away games, and cool-down stretches in addition to warmups. Preseason planning allowed for a smooth transition into the team’s daily routine as soon as the season began.
Coach Mike Oakes has been instrumental in cultivating a close-knit team culture. He meets with Emma and me to go through chapters in “The Team Captain’s Leadership Manual” by Jeff Janssen, organizes basketball-centered activities such as alumni-versus-varsity games, gets tickets for Maryland women’s basketball games, assigns different players to give pregame talks, and often buys doughnuts when we watch film on Saturdays.
My family is excited to host another team brunch in February. My mom is already planning to make her signature fried rice and avocado salad.
“I’ve been on many teams, and this is the closest group I’ve ever been a part of; everyone gets along and brings something unique to the team,” said Karlin, who is committed to playing at Division III Macalester College in Minnesota. “It’s a special experience for my last season of high school basketball.”
Victory is sweeter when you achieve it with those you love. And when I think about our team, I’m reminded of how lucky I am to be surrounded by not only great athletes, but great people.