Diversity and Team Building
Looking into the potential pros and cons behind diverse team building.
The University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) campus is home to students from over 130 different countries, making it one of the most racially diverse schools in North America. Students from around the world attend UTM for its award-winning facilities and excellent teaching staff, but what role does the racially diverse student pool play in sports team building?
The Benefit
Constructing a team made up of players from a variety of backgrounds can be beneficial for a multitude of reasons. The one that springs to mind straight away is the wide range of knowledge and experience that each player brings to the team. Because of the diverse student pool at UTM, an immense amount of knowledge and unique experiences can be shared and circulated within different teams. Students who were born and raised in countries from Africa, Asia, or Europe may have a unique skill set or background in a sport or exercise that is not popular or familiar in Canada. Building a team made up of individuals from a variety of backgrounds will likely give your team a competitive advantage over competing schools.
Potential Drawbacks
One of the potential downsides of building a team made up of individuals from different countries and various cultures is the possible language barrier. Picture this: you are a member of an intramural soccer team made up of 10 members. Three of them are from Portugal; they speak English but with a heavy Portuguese accent. Another four of the other teammates are from China and are still learning the English language. The two other members were both born and raised in Canada and grew up speaking English.
Trying to have a conversation or set up tactics and strategies to defeat the opposing team would be extremely difficult. Words and the meanings behind them would get lost in translation. Verbal language is not the only drawback of building a team comprised of people from diverse backgrounds: there is also the risk of cliques forming, which can be detrimental to a team’s overall success and togetherness due to a lack of a team unity.
Although there are potential issues surrounding diverse team building, there are ways to avoid and remedy them. A potential language barrier between teammates can be worked around using universal hand and body signals to communicate. Teams may also consider working with a translator to help communicate specific messages.
Cliques are another potential negative impact of diverse team building that can be avoided. The most crucial step in eliminating cliques is the nomination of a captain. The role of the captain would be to ensure that each member of the team feels included and valued within the group.
Big Picture
When building a team at school, student-athletes need to remember one of the core elements of the mission behind UTM sports: to provide students with a positive, healthy, and inclusive sporting environment. Including all students who express interest in being part of a team is not only ethical, but it’s also a great way to gain fresh insights into sports.If you are interested in joining a team on campus, follow this link for more information.
