Building Team Chemistry Part II

We dont use specific or special drills but we insist that the team, pitchers included, do all the pregame stuff as one unit---they stretch as a team to begin it all some two hours before game time

In addition we all meet in the hotel lobby and travelt o the field in a caravan.

Sometimes it is the simple little things that make it work and I can tell you that every year the chemistry is different due to the makeup of the individual players.

What we did last year was take the team to the Ronald McDonald House in Durham, NC. As many of you know this is a place that children stay with their families while they are undergoing treatment for cancer related illness. Many of the children are terminally ill and their parents come and live there with them while they are undergoing treatment. Our players spent the day with the kids just hanging out playing video games and watching tv. It had a profound effect on our kids and coaches alike. It really made the kids realize how lucky they are and how important taking each day as a gift really is. It was very emotional when we left with the kids hugging the players and thinking them for coming. To the children the players might as well have been pro players they were like celebrities. Our kids were really touched and opened up to oneanother about the way it made them feel. It was a great experience for our kids and coaches alike. We went there hoping to brighten up their lives in a small way and they ended up making more of an impression on us they we ever could have on them.

Whenever you successfully instill team chemistry, the byproduct is building a better individual player, physically and mentally. With that, the other side of the coin says an individual improvment may not improve the team as a whole. Building team chemistry is a no lose project.