United we stand…

Divided we fall. In Mark, Chapter 3 verses 24 and 25, we find the original reference to this now infamous quote. In it Jesus says, “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.”

Abraham Lincoln quoted the Bible in his “House Divided” campaign speech, which he delivered at the 1858 Illinois Republican State Convention.

The concept worked its way from the Bible, to the years leading up to the Civil War, and eventually found its way into high school sports cheers.

There’s a reason for that.

Now, I’m not at all about cherry-picking the Bible to serve my own agenda, however, I believe the gist of the meaning of the verses is that when there is contention within a group, and when unity is lacking, if there is no working toward a common goal, there cannot be victory. There cannot be success.

This idea holds true for players who participate in a team sport.

If you want to have a successful team program, there has to be a united front. The team has to be working toward a common goal, lifting each other up when needed, and supporting everyone on the team to be their best.

I remember coaching against teams that I knew lacked that unity, and a strategy that we would use was to see if we could get them frustrated and arguing amongst themselves. As soon as we would succeed, we would watch them fall apart and would use that to our advantage.

I’ve also seen it happen to our own Dogie teams. When players start pointing fingers, blaming their teammates for mistakes, refusing to pass them the ball or do things to exclude players or deride them, there is no way that team will win.

However, when a team embodies the opposite of that attitude, great and unexpected things can and do happen. I’ve also seen Dogie teams present that united front and watched as they gave 100% every moment they were on the court or field.

Each player understood their role and executed to the best of their ability. They played together and had confidence in each other. They lifted up their teammates and received the same when they needed it.

Those teams may not have come into a contest expected to win, but they did so more often than  not, and when it counted.

They had fun and they played pretty great games at the same time.

Talent will only take you so far. You have to play as a team to win as a team, and you can only do that when everyone is on the same page.