teamspirit

TEAM SPIRIT
Any sports is just not an outdoor physical activity but it gives us some of the most important lessons for life like team spirit.

It is important to have team spirit as it motivates you to want to succeed, improves chemistry, boosts morale and improves the willingness and ability of individuals to work together. To work as a team is to work together in an organized manner to achieve a common goal. This requires understanding the interdependencies among team members and using them effectively in order to achieve the common goal (mission). Each team member has his own personality and brings to the task particular skills, knowledge and experience, which are different from those of other team members. That is to say, each team member has a certain aptitude and position. All these aptitudes and positions must be manifested and brought into play, so that they interact with one another in a coordinated way in pursuit of the goal. All are necessary for team work to be effective. Being part of a team over a period of years, sharing the successes and disappointments creates a bond between people like very little else.
Basketball is a team sport which has immense popularity and played with the help of a ball that is shot into a basket positioned horizontally. The objective to shoot the ball is scores which are gained by following certain rules of the game. The game is played by 2 teams constituting 5 players each who play on a marked rectangular floor with baskets on both ends. The game of basketball was invented by James Naismith in 1891. James Naismith was a physical education teacher at McGill University and later at Springfield College (then Y.M.CA.) at Springfield, Massachusetts. Basketball was originally played with soccer ball and Naismith used a peach basket (with non-hollow bottom) nailed at a height of 10 feet above ground on an elevated track. Considering the manual removal of ball from the basket a drawback, the bottom was removed to take the shape of modern day baskets. Dribbling was not a part of the game originally and evolved eventually until 1950 with balls gaining better shape from manufacturing. Also the orange ball evolved from the brown ball that was used at the beginning to be more visible. By the year 1906, the peach baskets were replaced by metal hoops with backboard. A referee tosses the ball between at the centre of the court between the two players; one from each team and the player who gets hands on the ball passes it to a teammate. To score a goal, a team has to shoot the ball through the basket. A shot scored from a distance closer to the basket than the three point line fetches 2 points to the team, while a basket shot from a distance behind the three point line fetches 3 points. The team with maximum scores at the game end is the winner. For a draw, additional time may be allotted. A player advances towards the basket while running, dribbling or passing the ball to another team mate. A player is not allowed to move holding the ball without dribbling it as it is counted as a foul. Similarly a physical contact that disrupts the other team member or members is counted as a physical foul and the fouled player is awarded a free throw. A player has to snatch the ball from the player of other team without making a foul. Basketball is a game of techniques and positioning. Passing, shooting, dribbling have to be done in appropriate manner and players have to be positioned right to offend and defend to achieve or prevent a goal. Height of the team members gives an advantage in shooting and taller members are positioned appropriately at the “centre”, “power forward” and “small forward” positions. Shorter members with right ball handling skills proficient in speed play stay in “point guard” or “shooting guard” positions. Basketball is played at competitive levels with a carefully marked and maintained court, but variations of it are also used for casual play. Basketball is common in rural as well as city areas, in schools as well as colleges.