Team bonding drives success on the field and connection between players

By Noah Lenn, William Holt and Michael Pewett

May 28, 2025

Youthcast Media Group®

“Airball!”

Esaw Ghiorghis, captain of the varsity basketball team at Annandale High School, shouts that at Otto Tune, his teammate and best friend. It is meant not as mean-spirited mockery, but as good-natured fun. 

Esaw Ghiorghis, Annandale High School varsity basketball captain (Photo credit: Shannon Blevins).

Or, as comedians often put it, "We kid because we love."

The exchange takes place on the basketball court at Backlick Park, not far from the high school, when Tune misses the basket entirely on an outside shot. Everyone laughs at the playful taunt. Shared humor is an important element of team bonding.

That's the term for members of sports teams making emotional connections with teammates that lead them to trust one another, on the court and off.

Team bonding can be as simple as hanging out at a teammate's house watching scary movies or eating a team meal together after a long practice.

Joe Carr,  a sports psychologist who developed the rookie orientation program for the NBA, says team bonding is crucial at all levels of sports. One way to encourage this sort of bonding are what he calls EGBs — or energy-generating behaviors.

Annandale volleyball captain, senior Christine Mahoney (Courtesy of Mahoney).

For example, Carr encourages basketball players to give palm slaps known as "daps" during games and practices to recognize a good play. The simple act of such touching naturally brings people closer and fosters unity.

"In order for my team to hype itself up," Carr says, "they have to average at least 3,600 daps during the course of a game."

He also encourages basketball players to point at each other to acknowledge assists on made baskets.

"So if I'm talking and pointing, and I'm running and I'm dapping," Carr says, "I'm generating a lot of energy."

That is all about on-court bonding; most team bonding takes place off the court.

Esaw says he likes going out to eat with his teammates. "Wendy’s, CFA, and Chipotle are the most common and popular places for my teammates and me,” he says. “We also watch [game] film together, play mini-golf, and play football, basketball, and hide-and-seek at Backlick Park.”

Varsity teams at Annandale typically have a mix of upperclassmen and underclassmen.

Annandale sophomore Colton D'Ambrogi (Courtesy of D'Ambrogi).

“For me, personally, age and grade does not affect the connections I have with my teammates, and I’m sure that’s true for a lot of girls on the team,” says Christine Mahoney, senior captain of the volleyball team. “As long as you’re friendly and a good teammate, your grade shouldn’t matter.”

Finn Sample, senior captain of boys swimming, says his team bonds by "making themes for game days (and) dressing up for meets."

Colton D’Ambrogi, a sophomore swimmer, says he loves the connections he has made with teammates.

“It feels good and almost intuitive to have a diverse group of friends,” he says. “Friends you can call upon to help you with certain situations or to spend time with is always great to have ... I wouldn’t say age and grade affects my relationships with my teammates. We all get along and talk as high school kids.” 

Finn Sample, senior captain of boys swimming at Annandale High School (Courtesy of Sample).

Esaw, the basketball captain, says team bonding is all about building friendships.

“It’s so much easier communicating with someone you know,” he says. “Also, seeing your friends succeed is what pushes us as a team because we’re so close off the court."

Noah Lenn is a senior and William Holt and Michael Pewett are freshmen at Annandale High School (AHS) in Annandale, Va. AHS is one of Youthcast Media Group’s journalism class partners.