How does the chemistry in team relationships play out?

Each sports team has their own chemistry, they have a certain way of making things work. Their dynamic, strategies, set-up is all determined by their chemistry. The chemistry between the players is very important as if say the point guard were to be out of some very important games for knee surgery, then that team might suffer considerably without their leader or play-maker. Now that Jeremy Lin is out for his surgery, the Knicks seem to be suffering and back where they were before the craze, "a jumbled, banged-up mess" (Knicks have returned to point of disarray) http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/02/sports/basketball/without-lin-knicks-back-at-point-of-disarray.html?ref=sports). Although this does not have to be true, the set up that teams have is very important and determines their success. The longer a team is together their success seems to go up if they are growing as a team and making each other better as the days go by. Almost everywhere you go, you hear phrases like "are you a team player?", "take one for the team" or even "there is no I in team". All these allusions to teams in workplaces or various walks of life insinuate that there is something about a team that has positive results. The working together helps everyone achieve more so the delicate balance that one may see in a very seasoned team is very important. As a team grows, they can even be considered a family.

This chemistry must stretch across the bounds of teammates to also coaches and mentors. In the case of Sandusky, the care and love of the "family" team was there but to a level that was not appropriate for a school team. Sometimes parents don't know the things they could or should look for in trying to gauge whether their child's coach is safe for them to be around or whether the team the child is being put on has compromising situations. Dr. Chris Stankovich of the Sports Doc Chalk Talk, (http://blog.drstankovich.com/blog/tag/sandusky/) offers some seemingly obvious but very helpful questions that a parent should ask before allowing their child to join any team. He tells parents to ask whether the coaches have had a criminal background check before being hired, whether the Athletic Director or League Operator requires ongoing professional training and development in psychosocial issues, and whether the school coaching staff is more than 50% teaching-coaches and not just coaches who have no college degree, to name a few. While these may not weed out all the shady teams you don't want your children to be on, the point is that if no one is taking an active role in the protection of the children who may be too embarrassed or scared to speak up for themselves, we will perpetuate the cycle and more people will be harmed in the long run. While it is important for teams to have that close knit feel, there are certain boundaries that must stay in place to continue to keep the sport fun and safe for everyone.