Women's Soccer Team Video Analysis

The group dynamic and team cohesion among the 1999 Women’s soccer team was unbelievably superb. In the video, after so many years of being apart they all came together again. Each complementing each other in conversation, almost as if they were never even apart.
Within each team there are formal and informal roles, which is not any different than the U.S. Women’s soccer team. The Women’s soccer team had bench players, those who did not play as much as other teammates. Some would consider them to have informal roles. They would only come in when somebody needed a breather or if someone was injured. Others on the team such as Joy, Brandi, Michelle, and Mia all had formal roles on the team. The person that had a huge role was Mia because she was considered the star athlete on the team. She was the person that all of the media wanted to talk to, the one that was on the front pages of newspapers, and she was the face of the sport. Mia did not really want that role but she took on the role for her teammates and the fans.
That ties into role acceptance and clarity. Mia

accepted the role with talking to the media but she did not like the role. She missed the time on the bus with her teammates because she knew those were some of the best times that they all had together. As she would be talking the too media, she would always bring up what her teammates did in the game, and the interview was never just about her. This goes to show how much appreciation she had for each one of them. Mia’s teammates approved and accepted her All-Star role. The team felt awful for Mia because of all of the pressure that was put on her. Not only was she having to score goals but she had to be the face of the sport, which was a lot of work, and the team knew that.
Characteristics within the team were apparent throughout the video. Collective sense of identity was that they were a part of the Women’s soccer team. Distinctive roles, they had the starters and the bench players. Mia was the superstar who talked to the media. Michelle was the fierce competitor. Carla was the calming one. Each player had a specific role that they were to attain each day. Structured models of communication, before every game the coach would give a motivational speech to the players. This was able to pump the team up to go out and try their best and get the win most times. The one norm that stood out to me was that whenever something did not quite go right on the soccer field there was always someone there to cheer that person up. These girls cheered each other up with no hesitation and no worry about what the others might think of them.
Task and social cohesion were both very evident within the video.

The Women’s soccer team was task cohesion because they were all working together to achieve a common goal. That goal being to when the World Cup and wanted to make people look, watch, and respect women sports and athletes. Social cohesion within the group was strong because they all had a tremendous amount of respect for each other. Nobody in the group once felt left out or that they did not belong, because everybody was very inclusive. Whenever they were in a tough situation they all trusted each other to move on and get out of the bad situation. After the loss they had in the 1995 World Cup they all came together and wanted another shot. Never once did anyone leave the group, despite the hard loss. That goes to show that even though they had the goal of the World Cup, the team itself did not fall apart and everyone stuck

together.
Everyone that came back for the video interview all had at least one thing in common, that they were a part of winning the World Cup. Whenever teammates are not around each other for long periods of time, they can grow to be distant, no matter what they went through. These girls picked up the conversation like they have not been a part for years. The team cohesion between these girls is unbelievable, by the actions, roles, and communication that they all were a part of.