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Team Building
Exercises
From the terrific book:
Catch Them Being Good
Trust Walk
Objective:
To develop leadership and responsibility among athletes by requiring every team member to take turns as the sighted guide with complete control over the safety, challenges presented, and quality of the experience of her teammates. Conversely, since each athlete also takes a turn blindfolded, players learn to trust their teammates, to accept and follow instructions, to gain confidence in a task in which they feel emotionally vulnerable and physically challenged, all within an unpredictable environment.
Equipment: a blindfold
Space: soccer field, woods, gym, etc.
Numbers: teams of two
The Game:
1 blindfolded partner, 1 sighted – the sighted person cannot touch the blindfolded person and is completely responsible for the care and safety of the blindfolded partner. Designate the time for each person to be blindfolded before switching, say 2-3 minutes for younger athletes and 5 for older ones. Both people walk slowly together using only verbal communication. All verbal directional commands are up to the sighted person. Participants are required to trust themselves and have confidence in their teammates. Self-esteem is best improved by successful experiences such as this one. Athletes initially tend to feel very vulnerable and insecure in a trust walk, but as they grow more confident, they begin to take more risks and gain confidence from the experience.
Debriefing:
- What is the point of this exercise?
- What was it like to be completely responsible for both the challenge provided and the safety of your teammates?
- Did you have any difficulty or hesitancy trusting your teammate when you were blindfolded? Why? Why not?
- Why is trust in your teammates important?
- How did your sighted teammate’s tone and demeanor change your experience when you were blindfolded?
- How did it feel when you and your teammate successfully did something difficult together?
- How does this relate to the game of soccer?
Web Administrator Ken Gamble