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The Army Crew Team Case Analysis
The Army Crew Team Case Analysis
From the very beginning, Coach P did not address the concept of
team building. His focus was in identifying the best eight instead of
creating the best 16. This delineation between the Varsity and JV
boats created the environment that caused the conflict. Instead of
the focus on the individuals and the individual Varsity/ JV groups, he
would have been better served to provide the environment that
would sustain a complete team effort. In separating the “Varsity”
and the “Junior Varsity” he planted the seed of separation between
individuals identifying themselves as “Good Athletes” or the “Less
Good Athletes”. This turned out to be a destructive concept for the
entire team. In developing the Army Crew, Coach P could have
abandoned the labels of “Varsity” and “Junior Varsity” in favor of
labels that would characterize either team as the “Good Athletes”. A
team building event could have included all crew members at any
time during the season, where the “best” rowers are those that row
best together.
The Varsity team did not develop this “team” focus but continued to
critique individual efforts, never once attributing success or failure
to the entire team. Coach P had several opportunities to counter
this during the Atlanta Retreat by focusing more on the entire
team’s successes and that all team members contributed to
whatever outcome was realized. He should have appointed a
captain instead of placing all leadership on himself. The continual
focus on individual strengths and techniques severely weakened the
dependence and trust Varsity members felt for each other.