Community in Team

One of the communities I am a part of is the Cornell Squash team.  The team is made up of about fifteen players. We are all good friends and spend a lot of time together. We see each other at practice, which is five or six days a week, for a couple hours a day.  We also spend traveling time together on the bus going to matches on the weekends and overnight hotel stays.  All of this time together creates strong bonds and ties between all the players.  Because of this most of us are in the same social circles as well and spend even more time together when out socially at night. 

I call the squash team as a community based on the social properties it retains.  There is an obvious social network present, a definite web of relationships and occurrence of bonding.  Common ground is found in our commitment to the team and its success.  Showing up to practice, working hard, and not partying, are a few of all the commitments we make in striving for a common goal.  There is a legacy to uphold. A record of past teams, who they were and their success. Within this network there is a social hierarchy.  Out of the fifteen kids on the team, only nine travel and actually play in matches.  Those nine players are ranked on a team ladder.  The rankings are decided based on the outcome of weekly challenge matches amongst teammates.  Also, out of those nine players are elected two team captains.  And then there is the coach. Within the network there is competition, friendship, conflict, and cliques, an array of bonding properties.

CMC exists in the form of emails sent out by the captains and coaches regarding team relevant details via a private listserve.  However this listserve is also used by all of us to communicate about social matters as well, i.e. “inside jokes” and personal stories. There is a sense of trust among teammates.  We are also all friends on Facebook and communicate via Facebook frequently.

To me it is clear that the squash team is a tightly knit community with strong ties that communicates a lot, both face to face and via CMC.  

http://www.cornellbigred.com/index.asp?path=msquash&tab=mens