The entirety of my life has mainly revolved around one thing: my sports. With a copious amount of lessons being thrown my way each and every season—in both soccer and basketball—there has been one consistent truism imposed: your team chemistry will make or break your team’s success. 

The importance of team chemistry is often underestimated, but the teams where I have had the most success tend to have the greatest bond between us players. 

Ever since I first started playing sports, some of the best memories I made have come from off the court or field. Those times when we would all be staying at team hotels during tournaments, having team dinners, and caravanning to games. These events stick out as some of the most enjoyable experiences of my life that I am so grateful for, and come from the tight knitted teams I have been a part of. These memories we made outside of the games actually strengthened us as a team, and allowed us to play as a more cohesive unit when our games would come down to their biggest moments. The results we received reflected heavily upon our team chemistry, and all the successes were so much more enjoyable knowing that we had all done it together. 

Over the years, there have been a great number of teams I have played on that have fully embraced the idea of creating unbreakable team chemistry. However, there have also been a few teams that were severed because of the toxic environment that parts of the team created. The lack of inclusivity, the back-talking, and the selfishness that would circulate between different parts of the team ruined the enjoyment factor and took its toll on the games. No matter a win or a loss, without the team chemistry it wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as it should have been. The way that people would tip-toe around each other to avoid any sort of lash out or argument was upsetting, and something that you would never want to be a part of a team’s environment. 

Looking back on all the years of playing for different teams I can confidently say that a majority of the girls I have played with remain to be some of my best friends in life, yet all of the girls I have played with have left an imprint on me in some way. You go through so much with these people, spend so much of your time with these people, and you are able to grow such an unbreakable bond. It is something I could never take for granted. Despite the successes or failures, the stronger the team chemistry, the more enjoyment that was found in all aspects of the sports I have played. If I could tell anyone one thing I have learned from sports it is that team chemistry will make or break everything.