The Mental Performance Corner: Helping Athletes Understand their Roles on a Team

Every single player on the ice, field, or court has a role to play. A role that is critical to the success of the team, critical to whether they perform well, critical to whether they ENJOY being on the team, and even critical to whether or not they’re successful. And the funny thing is, this role has absolutely nothing to do with the position they play. 

We often think of roles as whether an athlete plays offense or defense, and while these are super important positions on the team, what is even more important is how each athlete contributes to the team dynamic. 

Some athletes may not play as much but are relied on heavily for cheering their team on or keeping things light and fun when they get too intense.

Other athletes are top scorers or top defenders.

Others are the ones working their tails off, leading by example, showing what hard work looks like no matter the situation.

Others may be there inspiring their team, motivating them to keep pushing when everyone else thinks the game is lost...

What happens to a team if you have top producers, but no one there to inspire them or cheer them on when things start to get tough? What happens when the team goes down by 3 quick goals and you don’t have the players who continue to go out and grind every shift, leading and motivating by example? What happens when the coach gets angry and you don’t have that player that reunites everyone as soon as he leaves the room? You suddenly have a team that isn’t confident, doesn’t feel motivated, lacks enthusiasm, and starts to crumble.

Athletes (and their parents) often want that top producer role right? The one scoring all the points and getting all the accolades? But not every athlete can play that role, and a team needs more than that to be successful.

In my last blog, I talked about the DISC assessment. [If you missed that blog, go check it out]. The point of that assessment is to really dive in and understand your behavior when you're competing. And knowing this, plays into your role on the team as well because as you start to better understand your behavior, you can start to better understand how that can be an asset to your team.

Everybody has their role they play. And each role is really important in a team. And in a team…if even just one person opts out of their role, chooses not to perform their role, the team cannot be successful. 

But at the end of the day, who do you have control over? You can tell Bobby over and over again what to do, but there are only so many things that you can say and do to help others in their role. What you really need to focus on is your role, because that is all you can really control. You want to spend your energy on things that will be beneficial to you and your role on the team, not things that will take that energy from you. And trying to help others in their role too much, might be taking that energy away from you. 

So as parents, and coaches, how do we support athletes in understanding their roles?

My favorite advice as always, talk to them. Talk to athletes about the different critical roles on a team, and talk to them how important it is for each person to contribute. Help them understand their own role, whether it’s as a high scorer, the motivational one, the one leading by example…whatever it is, what they have to contribute matters, and is equally important to the success of the team. 

So if you're a parent, and your kid is happy to be the motivational player, and you’re constantly yelling at them to score more goals, maybe check yourself. Be understanding and supportive of the role your athlete is playing, and help them to be the best they can in that role. That doesn’t mean they can’t be competitive, and score, it just means that their role as a motivational teammate is just as important and you need to be positive about that with them. Because your role as the parent is support, and to be positive about how they contribute.

Do you know your role on the team?