How Cliques Hurt The Collective In Girl’s Soccer

Amazing things can happen in girl’s soccer when your team has players that focus on something bigger than themselves, work to support each other, and truly care about one another. If you’ve ever experienced the power of the collective, then you understand how much of a positive impact it can have on your team’s game. And if you’ve ever been on a team where cliques got in the way, you know just how detrimental they can be to the group, your season, and your mindset.

Often the things that can disrupt a season going well are not soccer-specific at all. Often it’s relational and social issues. Specifically, cliques can become a cause of conflict within the team and hinder development. According to the Oxford Languages online dictionary, a clique is “a small group of people, with shared interests or other features in common, who spend time together and do not readily allow others to join them.”

The Opposite of Togetherness

If your team has an issue with cliques, players can feel isolated and excluded. Not feeling accepted can affect a player’s comfort level with the group and negatively impact game performance.

Cliques hurt the collective in girl’s soccer in so many ways. They undermine whatever goals the team has by causing separation and disconnect. When there is separation and disconnect, players don’t always work to support and encourage one another. This can have detrimental consequences in certain circumstances, like trying to bounce back after a big loss.

When players feel like they don’t belong, they can invest a lot of energy, emotions, and thoughts into getting their teammates to like them, which takes away focusing on soccer. Furthermore, suppose they already feel insecure about themselves and their abilities on the soccer field. In that case, this can lead to feeling even more insecure and completely halt their growth as a girl’s soccer player. 

Sometimes players in the cliques might not think that they are hurtful. However, the truth is that if even just one person feels alienated on the team by something that someone is doing, then it’s not okay and needs to be addressed. Why? Because it makes your whole team weaker. And, that is an issue that everybody on the team should strongly care about and want to fix.

Impact on Game Play

Everything about cliques hurts your team’s ability to connect and play well together on the pitch. It shows up in how players interact with each other. If players refuse to pass to teammates, yell at each other, or get upset, the team will not succeed. Negativity on the pitch results in disconnected play, avoidable errors, and an atmosphere that is simply not fun.

Here’s the biggest thing to consider–if there are players on your team that feel isolated, excluded, and separate, sure you can be a good team, but you will never be great. To be great requires selfless play, togetherness, and an overall positive atmosphere where players are fully invested in one another. Keeping this bigger picture in perspective can help strengthen the collective.

Take Action Early

Cliques can naturally happen in girl’s soccer when a group of players comes together as a team. So, being aware of this and staying proactive is important, especially because it could turn into a more serious bullying issue.

Strong team culture is the remedy to preventing cliques from hurting your soccer team. Team captains play a big role in this. Good leaders understand that cliques are detrimental to success and wellbeing.

If your team has an issue with cliques, start by having a conversation with your team captain (if your captain is part of the problem, you can skip them and go directly to your coach). Good, effective team captains should listen to concerns from any team member with an open ear. To feel more comfortable talking to them, know that you don’t have to name names or get specific. All you have to do is bring up the general issue of cliques and how it negatively impacts the team.

The way to move past issues with cliques is to address them straight on. Captains or coaches can call team meetings in safe spaces. Everyone can come together to address the issue and why it needs to be dealt with without blaming or calling people out.

The way to solve the problem is for the whole girl’s soccer team to understand that this issue holds them back from maximizing their potential. Winning games while feeling supported, encouraged, and connected with your teammates is a better environment for the team and individuals.

Featured image via Adobe Stock Images

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