TEAM BUILDING EXERCISE PROGRAM

OVERVIEW

This task-oriented team building intervention for high school students is intended to develop group cohesion in sports. After completing two weeks of a regular exercise program, the students were randomly assigned to a team building or a control condition. This intervention has not been found to impact task cohesion, but attendance was significantly higher for the intervention group than for the control group.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Target Population: high school students

Leaders for the team building condition developed their own specific exercises for implementing the five factors of Carron and Spink's (1993) teambuilding model (Bruner, 2009). Implementation occurs in sessions seven through 11 and integration occurs in sessions 12 through 23. The first five sessions introduce the five factors of the teambuilding model: (session 1) group distinctiveness, (session 2) individual positions, (session 3) interaction and communication, (session 4) group norms, and (session 5) individual sacrifices.

Bruner, M.W. & Spink, K.S. (2007). The effects of team building on the adherence patterns of youth exercise participants. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 29(Supplement): S149-S149.

Evaluated Population: Youth in this evaluation were 13-17 years old (N=122) from 10 high schools.

Approach: The 10 high schools were randomly assigned to either the team building or control conditions. The authors measured attendance in the program and task cohesion. Cohesion is not described.

Results: Attendance declined for both the control and team building groups, but the team building group's attendance was significantly higher than the control group. The difference between the team building and control group on task cohesion was not significant.

The authors do not describe taking into account the randomization at the school level when they analyzed the student-level data.

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

References

Bruner, M. (2009). Personal Communication: Overview of TB intervention in youth exercise setting.

Bruner, M.W. & Spink, K.S. (2007). The effects of team building on the adherence patterns of youth exercise participants. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 29(Supplement): S149-S149.

Carron, A. V., & Spink, K. S. (1993). Team building in an exercise setting. The Sport Psychologist, 7(1), 8-18.

Program categorized in this guide according to the following:

Evaluated participant ages: 13-17 years

Program components: Clinic/provider-based

Measured outcomes: Education

KEYWORDS: Adolescence (12-17), Young Adulthood (17-24), Community-based, Youth (16+), High School, Social Skills.

Program information last updated 10/29/09