Bringing a Team Together

So I’m sitting on the bus on our way to Lawrence Central (and due to certain recent events the coaching staff has to stagger seating). I’m in the back of the bus with all of the “close” guy swimmers you can really sense the camaraderie between the team.

At the same time you can also feel the sense of disconnect between swimmers of different backgrounds. Both of our team captains are sitting in the back minding themselves while the younger and less experienced swimmers sit quietly on their own.

Hopefully by the end of the season we can have a connection between all of the swimmers especially between the guys and girls. At the girls only meet all of the girls were laughing and having a good time. Today we have limited interaction mainly because the two teams can inter mix and you can tell that the cliques all bond together instead of forming one team.

What’s the best way to promote team growth? Is it better to support individual team growth before allowing the teams to intermingle? As always comments and suggestions are helpful.