The Army Crew Team

The Army Crew Team

The Army crew coach is facing a very difficult situation that needs to be handled properly in order to achieve success. The varsity team is self-destructing as the JV team beats them two-thirds of the time. There is no doubt that when individually ranked the varsity members are better rowers, however as stated, the teamwork of the JV squad succeeds. The coach is a facing a dilemma of high performing selfish individuals getting beat by a lower performing, but team-oriented group. The varsity crew is suffering from a selfish, and victim mindset that prevents teamwork from ever gaining any traction. The varsity team erodes as each team member points their finger at anyone but themselves as the reason for losing. Each member was of the mindset that they were the only one trying to row hard. Each member believed they were carrying the weight of their team members. This creates a problem because as stated if one rower is out of sync it throws off the entire crew. Even worse, if another team member attempts to compensate for the faulting crew member it creates an even worse scenario for the entire crew. This is a vicious cycle that will destroy an entire team. On the other hand, the JV team experienced continued success because they had the ‘nothing to lose’ mindset. The JV members were not blaming others after a bad day, instead they collectively agreed on how they could perform better next time. After observing these circumstances, the coach needs to realize that his objective testing to determine where to place the rowers is good, but flawed, it is not all inclusive. His highly qualified background has caused him to overlook some basic human fundamentals when it comes to teamwork. There were very clear indicators that have captured the problem with the varsity team. He had the comments immediately following their Atlanta trip when one varsity team member was disappointed they had not beat the JV team by a larger margin. The negative peer evaluations and the negative emails should have been even more reason to implement change sooner.

The coach needs a hard reset in order to get the varsity team back on track. He needs to harness the individual talent into a team oriented crew. The coach should intervene to improve the varsity team. He needs to step in as the experienced coach and provide direction and control. The varsity team needs a humility check, each guy is too concerned about themselves. In order for the team to get back on track they need to stop being so concerned about themselves and they need to focus on their teammates. In contrast the JV team is eager to learn, works together well, and they are not afraid to fail. The rank structure within the team seems to be a hindrance too. Some of the junior cadets on the varsity team feel they don’t have a voice because they are lower ranking than the other team members. This creates an environment of hostility and resentment