Team Chemistry is Key at Blake

-Varsity Football after a big win against Seneca Valley High School (Photo Courtesy of Bryon Marshall)

Over the course of this school year, I have covered many athletic teams here at Blake High School that range from Field Hockey to Bocce. Whether the team was really good, okay, or even not so great I realized that they all had one thing in common that helped them win games - great team chemistry.

Looking back at the fall sports season there were many veteran teams that were successful and the young undefeated JV Football Team under first year head coach Bryon Marshall. Obviously all these teams were filled with talent, but they all had great team chemistry in order to succeed.

“I think the strength of the team was their mentality. They came into every game with this dominating mentality, wanting to dominate every single game,” Coach Marshall said about the JV Football Team’s season.

Varsity Football had their best season in program history. The team worked excellently together to secure a 7-3 record in the regular season and made it back to their second straight postseason under coach Deshawn Anderson.

“They like each other more. This team’s got a great relationship and are pretty cool with each other. They have fun together all the time, even outside of football. There’s more of a bond with this team compared to others,” Anderson says.

“It’s definitely the players and the coaches. It’s definitely like a family environment. We’re just all brothers. It’s just a great brotherhood to be in. It’s fun,” senior linebacker Bryce Hamilton adds.

Field Hockey won back to back 3A South Regional Championships. The players and Coach Howley said successful because of their great team chemistry.

“It was actually our whole team, our chemistry was amazing and our whole team was so good at playing field hockey that we all clicked and bonded so well. Are passes were amazing. We knew where we were going to be at all times,” senior Rachel Tregoning said about the Field Hockey Team’s amazing team chemistry.

When the winter season came around, I really noticed the pattern of good team chemistry and success.

Music teacher Phil Barnes brought back the Blake Bocce Team, which is 50% general education students and 50% special education students with disabilities. The general education players developed relationships with their teammates who have disabilities.

“[We are] definitely very supportive. I would say whenever we are up we say, “Yeah lets go you got this”. We are a very empowering group and we want to empower each other,” senior Andy Otero said.

Blake’s Swim and Dive killed it out there this season. The boys placed second in their region and sixth place overall in states. The girls placed seventh place in regionals. Many team members knew one another before Blake.

“We have a good team spirit overall, so that helps with our meets if we are doing well or bad. That usually helps put us on top. We also have really good commitment from all the team members,” Stanton said.

Adding on to the phenomenal year for Blake Athletics, Indoor Track did amazing, racing toward the finish line. Off the track, the team does a lot of activities together to bond and build up their team chemistry.

Senior Nathan Phillips recalls that his favorite activity was when the team all met at a movie theater and saw the movie Race about famous track star Jesse Owens. The bonding off the track leads to their tremendous support for one another during meets.

Finally this winter sports season, a young JV Basketball Team had an impressive 12-3 record. “Their skill sets and talents mix together well. They have really bought into what I like to call the brotherhood. Simply meaning that we play for each other no big me and little you attitudes,” Coach Prather said about his team.

When the spring season approached, the teams that clicked right away and started winning all had great chemistry from the start.

Girls Lacrosse had a tough season last year, so lots of their players were preparing for the season early. They also started bonding early, which led to their 3-2 start to their season. The girls wanted to have more of a family atmosphere on the team this season.

Senior Elaine Kaplan describes a team bonding activity that they do, “I as well as well as the rest of the team we wrote our goals on our arms, so we can look down and think about them during a game and we just talk about our goals in a circle and that helps us.”

The Softball Team dominated in quite a few games this year. This couldn’t have happened without all off them getting along so great.

“The team chemistry is the best it has ever been. New players are stepping up in new positions at key times,” Coach Wallace says.

Senior Nicole Kidwiler adds “We had a rough year last year, so coming back and having a good team chemistry and really liking each other, being there for each other on the field and in school. It’s really good.”

My final take on all this is that team chemistry is key! If a team wants to function and win, you need to build around your team chemistry first in order to succeed. Look at all the teams that I just mentioned. It's obvious that more athletic talent and skill helped them to be successful.