Your guide to successfully starting a company sports team and how it can boost morale

Recreational sports are an excellent way to build a strong company culture, and they can be a fun way for your company to improve mental and physical well-being. They can also help build a sense of camaraderie, boosting morale within your company. Additionally, setting up a team isn’t as daunting as you may think, making it one of the easiest ways to strengthen the bond between colleagues and offer a fun regular team-building activity. 

To learn more about how to set up a company sports team, as well as the potential benefits that can be earned, keep reading our useful blog as we take you through the key considerations of organising a team sport.

What are the benefits of a team sport?

There are plenty of benefits that a company sports team can provide for your organisation, this ranges from health and wellbeing improvements to boosting team morale. All of these things could lead to increased productivity and a stronger team connection within your department, making the feat of starting your own team worthwhile in the wider landscape and at a more granular level. We’ve highlighted some of these benefits below to better understand what could be achieved.

Reduce stress

Exercise is effective at relieving mental stress. Movement can help to reduce the body’s levels of stress hormones and release more of the natural mood-lifting hormones such as endorphins. Therefore, team sports could help to alleviate any of the stresses associated with high-pressure jobs.

Improve communication 

A company sports team will require players to cooperate in a new situation. This can lead to improved communication between team members, as they’ll have to work together to achieve a common goal rather than focusing on their work tasks. The added benefit of this is that you’ll see your team demonstrating their strengths, weaknesses, and problem-solving skills, all of which are transferable to their work life.

Offers a chance to network or build friendships

A sports team within your organisation can benefit new and old team members alike as they share a common interest. This can allow people to communicate with others in the company outside of their immediate departments, and offer a chance for newcomers to make friends with their new colleagues. In the case of playing leagues or tournaments, you’ll also have the chance to do some networking with other company sports teams and build your personal and business relationships. 

Improve morale and productivity

Building a sports team can offer a team bonding exercise that can boost morale, especially when your team wins. Alternatively, even if your team loses this can help to deepen trust between co-workers as generally, people feel more loyalty towards their peers rather than to an institution or company as a whole. This type of connection can lead to a more productive work environment with a better overall culture. 

Improve concentration levels

With any sport, you have to remain focused and concentrated. As such, your team members will be able to improve their cognitive skills which can positively affect their performance at work as well as during matches or tournaments.

Creating your own company sports team

If you’re not sure where to start, the tips below will help you figure out what you want to do with your company sports team. There are various ways to approach what is best for your team, as you’ll be able to play just for fun, for charity, or in competitive leagues. The points below should be taken into consideration during your planning stages to make sure that your project is a success.

Choose a sport

The first step when creating a company sports team is to find an appropriate sport. If you’re looking for a lunchtime option where workers don’t have to worry about showering, or something for those who can’t commit to regular intensive practice sessions, something like table tennis or badminton may be a good option. However, if you have a very athletic team you could always opt for something like football, netball, or rugby. 

Decide whether you want to play competitively

Some people may just want to play for fun whereas others may want to compete. You can choose to stick to one option, or if you have a large number of people interested you could divide your teams into competitive and non-competitive leagues so that everyone can play at a level they feel comfortable.

You can also choose to raise money for charity by organising charity matches if you want to give back to the local or wider community. You can read more about how to organise this with our dedicated blog.

Choose your teams

To boost communication between team members and eliminate drama, you might want to consider assigning your teams rather than allowing members to choose themselves. This way you can integrate different departments and give everyone a chance to get to know each other.

Alternatively, with smaller offices, you could choose your teams by department and offer an incentive to the winners as part of some friendly competition.

Pick a schedule and location

Choose a location to play that is close to your office so that everyone can easily make it to practice sessions or games. If you can schedule your matches during work days, this may be a better option than weekends or evenings as many people will have other commitments. This can also make for a much-needed break from work.

Order a team kit

Creating a team identity can help boost morale and it can make your team look more professional as everyone is responsible for their kit and maintaining standards. This cohesion can help to reinforce strength and values, and it also means that everyone has the same quality kit regardless of athletic knowledge, ability, and budget. Having a team kit and playing tournaments can also help to keep momentum going and keep your players interested, which will sustain your project for years to come.

Another bonus is that a kit with your company logo on it can help to build brand awareness, or you could even attract sponsors by offering to feature their logo which is ideal if you run a start-up business and are looking for further income streams. You can learn more about the process of ordering a custom team kit with our Team Avec+ page.

Kickstart your sports team with Avec Sport

At Avec Sport, we cater for a wide range of team sizes and sports. Whether you’re playing an all-female 5-aside, a men’s tennis tournament or a mixed-gender sport, we supply high-quality men’s and women’s teamwear which can be customised to meet your preferences. We also supply useful accessories such as water bottles, bags, and training bibs to keep your team performing at their best.