Psimer A641.5.3.RB - ICT at the Team Level

 Psimer A641.5.3.RB - ICT at the Team Level


Olympic US Women’s Soccer team

The Olympic US Women’s Soccer team was formed in 1985 and the players earned no salary, only $10.00 in meal money (Royer, 2019).  Since the inception of the team, the players were poorly regarded which is probably one of the major reasons the evolution of the women’s soccer program is a great case study for Intentional Change Theory.  Intentional Change Theory hinges on identity, self-reflection and self-actualization which is ultimately for the greater good.

In the case of women’s Olympic team, playing soccer was more than just about the sport.  The women’s team has been influential in many socioeconomic and societal transformations including pay discrimination.  Before the 1996 Olympics, the team shunned the Olympic training camp. The team and soccer federation did come to an agreement, leading to a second gold medal; however as cited by (Elting, 2022), “Julie Foudy called up none other than Billie Jean King who told her the only way to solve this problem was to use the collective leverage they have as a team.” 

The individual conflicts with boundaries (discrimination) manifested to the team (Akrivou, 2006) and they had the power to resolve boundaries on a grander scale.  The players personally experienced a full-on collision of personal values and their identities being demoralized, which led to working through a committed process of ICT.  

 

Men’s Dream Team Basketball --- In Contrast

To start the comparison, “Men’s professional sports are often referred to as "the last closet". They thrive on a specific expression of masculinity, leaving little room for expansive identities” (Weintraub, 2023).  Whereas, the women’s soccer team played as they were and minimized their own internal conflict through major reform.

Generally speaking, the men’s 2000 and 2004 teams struggled in large part because of the novice make up of the team.  Based on an analysis by theScore (2021), the team seemed dysfunctional.  The players played as individuals, and based on my deep-dive research, I see a pattern of the novice team was a result of the more senior players having a lot of personal issues.  theScore (2021) also describes many instances of conflict between the players themselves and coaching staff.  Honestly, ICT is not even relevant and is just absent. 

Comparing the two in a succinct statement: the Women’s Soccer team embraced ICT, which is evidenced by actual personal, professional and large-scale change.  The men’s basketball team was a team of one and I am not convinced anyone was trying to change anything.

 

Reference:
Akrivou, K., Boyatzis, R. E., & McLeod, P. L. (2006). The evolving group: towards a prescriptive theory of intentional group development. Journal of Management, 25 (7), 689–706. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621710610678490

Elting, L. (2022, March 7). The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team—A case study in the collective power of women and Doing the Impossible. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizelting/2022/03/04/the-us-womens-national-soccer-team-a-case-study-in-the-collective-power-of-women-and-doing-the-impossible/

Royer, T. (2019, June 11). A history of the USWNT.  Sport in American History. https://ussporthistory.com/2019/06/11/a-history-of -the-uswnt

theScore. (2021, July 31). The collapse The story behind ’04 Team USA. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMzozK6Lk18

Weintraub, A. (2023, August 18). World Cup: “Good, queer joy.” https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20230818-fifa-2023-womens-world-cup-good-queer-joy-on-and-off-the-pitch


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