Ultimately, being a part of a team means competing, working, living, winning and losing together. What does it mean to be part of a team? It means you are part of a group who has come together to achieve the same goals. You are a piece of a puzzle. All of the pieces: you, your teammates, your coaches, and maybe even the parents of the team members must fit together to make the whole puzzle which is the team. I know everyone of you know the saying "There is no I in team," but do you really know what they are trying to say? The way I am seeing it as they are trying to say is important that each member of the team have their own individual goals that they hope to achieve while playing the sport; but there are also goals the team as a group want to achieve. All team members must be willing to adjust their personal goals to fit in with the team goals. Not everyone can be the leading scorer, there are starters and there are substitutes. Not everyone can be that player that everyone comes to see...but you can be that team everyone comes to watch.
Being part of a team means helping your teammates whenever you can. Cooperation among all members of the team is very important. Jealousy of teammates has no place in sports. No matter how good you are there will always be someone who is better than you. You should admire those who are better than you and work even harder to bring your skills up to their level, use that as a motivation to get better. You should see this as a challenge rather than something to be angry about. Being angry at a teammate will hurt your performance and will hurt the team’s performance. You should always give 110% percent no matter what. You owe your team that, don't expect them to pick up your responsibilities and slack. What would happen if everyone on the team did this? The team probably would not do too well. You are an equal partner on the team and must contribute your fair share of the effort, take your fair share of the credit for team successes, and your fair share of the blame for team failures. This is what it means to be part of a team.
