One for the team
Bosses like team players, coaches like team players. Our society is built around small units, whether they are limited to a bloodline family, the capacity of the cave or the number of seats in the car.
The type, relationships and structures at work at a social level impact on us from birth to grave.
Children with two or more siblings born close together are more socially adept from a young age, understand the importance of sharing and caring for others in the cluster. This could have to do with the fact that they are the product of a time when their parents loved each other and finished the day in the same bed at the same time to prove it. Regularly, often. Remember those days?
Not all is placid in the cave during the growing-up period. There is not enough room for me to be me. My thoughts and important philosophical musings as I become a teenager are constantly being tempered and quashed by siblings who are unaware of my importance.
The employer part of me is eternally thankful for the teen years that have been tempered by familial or team structures.
Leaders ride ahead of the army into the battle, not slashing and hamstringing fellow soldiers also heading into the fray. Gently drawing on the strengths of individuals in their teams, they are able to encourage, guide and head up a side. By achieving their own personal best, leaders help the work team exceed targets.
When playing as team captain or coaching while playing, hard decisions will always require the good of the team over the star in the team. Young champions require regular nappy changes, full baby-oil massages and reassurance of their importance and the value of their talent to the game’s outcome.
Last century’s champions, whose physical structures must be massaged just to keep them moving, provide the essential mental stability to steer the vigour of youth. Having experienced all sorts of events, teams, outcomes and egos, their consistency underpins successful campaigns.
Teams participating in Cologne this week have to manage double jeopardy on a daily basis. There will be days when ‘taking one for the team’ will be detrimental to the following day’s sporting outcomes. It is here that the young may have the best of both worlds — champions at night and the following day on the field. What a joy to survive on two hours of nightly sleep for an eight-day period.
The champion of previous campaigns will not be outdone, however. They will arrive early for the event, surveying possibilities, planning games, events, finals, and evening celebrations, with an orgasmic conclusion by adding extra days to their Deutsch experience.
Younger team members will benefit from the experience, sharing the medals and the trophies, and falling in love with the Gay Games experience.
Our community may be proud of the bridges built in sport. Cultural, physical, regional, racial, and sexual preference showcased in sporting participation. Team Sydney’s clubs and members provide the opportunity to participate, whether young or older, champion or beginner. www.teamsydney.org.au
