Kody Springsteen November 4, 2014

HES 379 Case Study #7

Case study #7 – Marcus, coach Marcus is a basketball coach in charge of a travelling elite summer team. The team is made up of the absolute best high school players from every team in the state. In fact, ten of the top 25 players in the nation are on this team. They should be unstoppable, and they should win every game easily. The problem is that they are not winning. They have a mediocre 4-4 record so far this summer, and they have lost to some teams that are clearly inferior to them. All of the players are blaming each other, and several have threatened to quit if they can’t have more playing time. Some even seem to be trying to make their teammates look bad by not passing to them. Marcus is receiving a lot of pressure from the players’ families - who paid a lot of money to get their sons exposed to major college scouts. And, while the college scouts are showing up to most of the games, the players are not working together, so they do not look good. Marcus needs help to get these boys on the same page and working together. Factors: This basketball team is a traveling team that is made up of the best high school players from every team in the state. Ten of the top 25 best players in the nation are on the team. They have played eight games so far, but have only won half of them. The players have been complaining about not getting enough playing time. They are having trouble working together as a team. Many of the parents are pressuring Marcus because they have spent time and money for their sons to be recognized by college scouts. The team has a lot of potential talent since they are rated as the best players in the state, but they need to learn how to work together as a team so they can win games. Since they are all top-rated players, there may be problems with the individual players believing that they are better than the others. This kind of behavior would not conducive to the team winning more games because it is important for the team to be a cohesive unit. Problems: The problems for this team are that they are not winning games like they should be, they do not respect one another as players, and they do not know how to play together as a team. The top players in the state/nation are on this team, so they should be able to win against their opponents whom are inferior talent-wise. The players are making a conscious effort to make their teammates look bad by not passing to them during games. Individuals on the team seem to think they are not getting enough playing time, as well. The parents of the players are pressuring the coach because they have spent money and time on this team for their sons to be recognized by college scouts. The players on the team may also be thinking that they are the alpha males of the team, where believe that none of their other team members are as good as them. This is a problem because they need to value players on the team and give them equal opportunity to prove themselves.

This coach needs a plan to be successful in getting his team to win. He needs to implement an intervention for his team to win more games. The goals for this intervention are to 1) establish team and individual goals 2) increase team cohesion and camaraderie and 3) resolve playing time issues. Success will be determined by winning tournaments and how teammates interact with one another. Intervention:

To get these young men playing together and performing at an optimal level I will use the forming, storming, norming and performing (FSNP) approach. This approach is commonly used to get a group of individuals to become a team and perform at a very high level. In our situation, it will be to get these very talented young men to come together as a basketball team, and perform at the level that they are fully capable of.

For this method to be effective, we must identify what phase of the strategy the young men are in and begin there. These young men are in the forming, as well as storming stage. They still are getting to know one another since they have only played eight games, but they are already butting heads and having problems. To fix this issue, I will have the team start from scratch and have a team meeting. In this team meeting each player will speak and tell their fellow teammates his name, position, what high school he plays for, and what team he currently plays for. This is important because each player needs to understand that he plays for the same team that every other player in that room plays for and that they all will be playing together as a team this summer. Each player will also state one individual goal he has. This is so each player knows their teammates goals and can hold them accountable to strive to complete these individual goals and stay motivated in times of struggle. Many of these young men’s individual goals were to play collegiate basketball. After each player has discussed who he is, where he is from, and his individual goals, the team will discuss and decide an overall team goal and the steps they will have to take as a team to reach this overall goal. The team decided that the overall goal is to win tournaments. During this phase the coach will also discuss with the players their individual roles as he sees them and the players will vote for their team captain. Establishing individual roles allows each player to have an identity within the team, and establishing a player voted captain allows players to have a fellow teammate to follow and go to with problems. Following this meeting the team will continue their practice and tournament schedule.

This will lead back into the storming stage, but this time around the players will better understand one another, each individual’s goal, and the team’s overall goal. Having each player understand these concepts will allow the storming stage to benefit the team and further establish individual roles and team camaraderie. The players will fight and argue during practice, but these conflicts will be resolved through honest and professional conversations between the parties involved in the conflicts. Following these fights and arguments the team will build trust and enhance their relationships with one another because they are all progressing through these trials and tribulations as a team rather than individually.

A problem that was brought to attention by some of the players was that certain individuals were not getting enough playing time. The coach will address this issue by letting the players know that playing time in the games will be decided by each player’s

effort and performance during practices. If certain players out work and perform other players, then those individuals who out work and perform will receive more playing time than the other players. However, if all players practice with great effort and perform well, then playing time will be even and judged off of what benefits the team winning most.

Another problem that has caused issues is a lack of passing the ball to certain players on the team. To resolve this matter the coach will have each player play a position that they usually do not play. This is to make each player appreciate the other players’ positions and to help each player understand why this position is key to the team’s achievement of the team goal. Using this strategy will make the players realize that if they want to win tournaments they are going to have to pass the ball to every player and utilize each player on the court. Once the major conflicts have been resolved and the team camaraderie and chemistry is beginning to increase the team will have moved into the norming stage.

Now having completed the storming stage, the team has moved into the norming stage. This stage is when the team increases camaraderie and chemistry. To further promote this stage the coach is going to take the team out to a movie. This allows the team to relax and the players can hang out outside of basketball, further get to know one another, and increase team chemistry. The players can also discuss ways to help each other achieve their individual goals, as well as achieve the team’s overall goal.

Another way to promote this team bonding is having the coach choose who rooms together on tournament trips. This will allow players who may not know one another as well as other players to better get to know one another. This will increase team chemistry and camaraderie on and off the court.

This time spent bonding will further increase team cohesion. The cohesion-performance relationship is known to be a circular relationship, meaning that as cohesion increases performance increases, and as performance increases cohesion further increases resulting in even greater performance. Therefore, the norming process is essential in getting the most out of the team and optimizing the team’s performance.

Finally, the team will begin the performing stage. The coach must scout opponents and understand the best basketball strategy for his players. The coach will convey his knowledge and expertise to his players, but once he has done that it is up to the players to work together as a team, execute the game plan, and accomplish their team’s overall goal.

Once the performing stage has occurred the team should reassess goals and roles and adjust according to what the team thinks is best. The FSNP is an effective intervention for this situation and will result in the team performing at an optimal level and winning tournaments.

THE ASSIGNMENT: You will be required to complete case summaries and action plans for two different case studies throughout the semester. Several specific cases will be provided to you online, or you are welcome to choose one or two of your own (please get approval from me first). For the case studies, you are to summarize the key important concepts involved with the case, and develop an appropriate action plan to address the issues. Use theories and activities discussed in class to complete your project. Analysis, theoretical application, and intervention design are all crucial parts. Spelling, grammar, and presentation are important as well. Use the rubric.

HES 379 PROJECT GRADING RUBRIC 50 points possible

_______ (10 points) Develop and describe the important factors involved in the case. Include all important demographic information, behavioral information, and descriptives. What assets do they have that you can use, and what hurdles will you run into in your efforts? You should add to the provided description to “finish” the case. _______ (10 points) Describe the specific problem or problems to be solved. What does this person NEED to be successful? What are your goals for this intervention? How will you determine success? Are there bigger goals than the obvious ones? _______ (25 points) What is your intervention? Describe it in detail. How will it be presented? When? Where? How? By whom? Who will help? What is the theoretical basis/model? Why will it work, when other attempts have failed? How will you overcome the barriers? Attach the intervention (i.e., presentation, schedule, plan, template, etc.) _______ (5 points) Spelling, grammar, professional appearance