Strong interpersonal ties:
You can’t spell “interpersonal” without some of the letters from “team”, clearly there’s a connection there. Our team is very close. We spend at least 3 hours per day together at practice during the week, and on MWF we lift for an additional hour. Sometimes on the weekends, we have doubleheaders that can last up to 6 hours. Did I mention that this is just in the fall, our OFF-SEASON? In the spring (our actual season) it picks up two-fold. During these long, grueling hours on the field and weight room, we learn to love each other.
Shared focus, common purpose:
Our coach instills in our minds from day one that we play to win. So our focus is always on winning games, and possibly winning the coveted Ivy Championship and a berth into the NCAA Softball Tournament. No pressure, right? Also, it is stressed that we need to be physically fit to play. Our coach is constantly reminding us while we struggle through our abdominals circuit at lift or while we fight to get that last bench rep, “We’re getting faster, stronger, and better every day”. Kind of like that Kanye West song. But not really.
Common language and identity:
Common phrases often heard leaving the mouths of CU softballers (besides curse-words):
1. “We’re huge!” Taken out of context it can mean many things, but to us it just reminds us that our bench maxes are higher than other women’s teams SQUAT maxes. Ouch.
2. “PPE!” Acronym for “piss-poor effort”. An example would be the Yankees this season. Yeah, I said it.
3. “HPP” Acronym for “high-pants Patty”. Some girls on the team pull their pants a little TOO high, and we like to remind them of that fact.
4. In-game quotes such as, “Yah Red!” or “Yah shooter” (“shooter” referring to the pitcher, fyi). Basically anything that goes, “Yah [name/word]”.
5. “The blue coolerrrr!!!” This refers to our favorite team cooler in which we store our food during games. The blue cooler is a God among men.
The blue cooler himself.
Social Networks, common ground, reciprocity:
We have strong social networks (with other teams, alums, coaches), which could pay off in the long run when we need jobs. We obviously share common ground with each other (we’re all on the same team). Reciprocity is present because we support each other 100%, and have high expectations of our teammates.
Now that I’ve convinced you that CU softball is an amazing community, please come to our games. We actually WIN and it’s FREE! You’ll have a great time watching us crush our opponents and watchig us be huge. Promise.
3 comments:
Hi, I like your post a lot. I think the Cornell Softball Team must be a great community. You illustrate the proporties of SNA well. And the common language and identity paty is really interesting.
I really liked your post. I just transferred to Cornell this semester and I feel such a difference in the atmosphere between here and my previous college. There is such a community here based solely on our attendance to Cornell that you don’t find in many institutions. With that foundation, I’m sure the extra community in the softball team makes it even better. The team definitely helps develop strong interpersonal ties between you because of all the time spent together training and practicing. I really liked your common language section. The acronyms were great and just the fact that you all know what each other means with each saying shows just how strong the community between the team is. I can only imagine the reciprocity in the team because of all the support you must give to each other. After all, you’re all shooting for the same goal to WIN!!
Hey Ashley, I really enjoyed your post and how it strayed from the normal straightforward format. You really capture SNA in your team and you managed to do it while making it interesting. There are so many aspects of a team that make it a great community that I actually miss a lot because all of high school I was involved in team sports and now I haven’t been on one at all since coming to Cornell. You develop such great bonds with your teammates because you have the same common goals and its so much fun. I hope you have a great season this year!
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