How a football coach showed us the many parallels of sports teams & work teams
Chattanooga, Tennessee, McCallie High School football coach, Ralph Potter, penned a convincing argument as to why kids need in-person sports and school in their daily lives in a heartfelt letter detailing such. Potter advocates for re-entry due to a “deep, even visceral need” to return to normalcy. And this emotional need isn’t just shared by athletes and coaches, but by many employees, managers, and the general population. As Potter and Sociology point out—the impacts of decentralization just may be too costly.
As we have seen in 2020, there has been a steady global increase in drug and alcohol use rates, depression, suicide, lost income, and amplified debt. These are the most noteworthy consequences of Covid constraints, but far from the only ones.
Comradery is Huge
There are many reasons why people take, and stay, in certain jobs. For some it’s all about loving their company brand, their field of work, or to put it plainly, their paycheck. But for others, their reasons for staying with an employer may be on a different, more emotional, level. They may love their boss, co-workers, or work environment so much that they are willing to overlook some things, such as possibly making a higher income working for another company.
These workers may be the ones who have been hit the hardest by the current pandemic. Their “visceral need,” as Potter coined, to be around others has been abruptly halted by the new Covid restrictions and for some, that void is not without its costs.
Comradery is defined as “a feeling of friendliness, goodwill, and familiarity among the people in a group.” For extroverts who rely and thrive on back-and-forth and the company of others, being so isolated by remote work may be causing them enormous amounts of stress, anxiety, or even depression.
These workers enjoy a team atmosphere and the cohesiveness that the centralization of a workplace provides. As Potter explained of his student athletes, “They begin to understand what we mean by communion, that we are each responsible for one another, that we are not alone, that we are not an island.”
Routine & Structure are Important
In addition to the decline of interpersonal communications, remote working allows for a certain new level of freedom for workers, and with that comes an increased need for discipline.
For some, especially those who struggle with self-regulation, that lack of structure and routine that in-house work demands can become a major challenge. The sheer processes of getting ready for work and out the door create an inherent routine and structure to daily life. Without being “forced” to continue such a routine, some workers may fall behind, or become too overwhelmed with having to balance their home lives and work lives, which are now so closely intertwined.
Fear & Pessimism Can Get Magnified
Potter’s letter also indicates another parallel between athletes and workers, in that the majority take this pandemic very seriously, and indeed may actually need the inclusiveness and directives of others in order to get through this time.
He writes, “there is an absolute willingness to take whatever steps necessary to make a full return possible…They are anxious to be instructed on what they need to do to protect themselves, their family, and each other.”
With such social isolation that we have never experienced, it is fair to say that fears–both unfounded ones and real ones, can quickly become accelerated and possibly even self-sabotaging. The longer a person is cloistered, the higher the chances become that they will eventually adapt a distorted view of their reality. Without the social interactions we are used to, it is easier to fall in a trap of pessimism that comes from not being a part of something greater than ourselves. This is a very genuine aftereffect for some.