Coming together with teammates, classmates or coworkers can sometimes be uncomfortable. Whether it is because they are unfamiliar, or it is just difficult to initiate conversation, bonding is a great way to chip away at some of this dissociation.

Bonding is something that is practiced in many clubs around school, sports teams and even select classrooms. It is a great way to meet new people and to gain self confidence among peers. Bonding can be anything from a game with peers to just spending quality time with teammates.

     “The main reason why we do bonding on the [soccer] team is so that all the girls get the chance to know each other,” senior Allyson Jennings said. “A lot of the girls are new to the varsity team and we want them to feel like they’re apart of the team instead of a ’new girl.’”

Bonding also has the ability to strengthen a team’s performance at the game.

According to a 2003 study published by McGill University, researchers found that team-building interventions have a positive effect on team members’ perceptions of social cohesion. They also found that If your team environment is not cohesive and your team members’ goals are disparate, it’s likely that your team’s overall productivity will suffer.

“Bonding with the team outside of soccer actually helps a lot in the game” Jennings said. “We build a chemistry with each other which helps a lot when playing on the field because if you can’t connect well with each other then it’s going to be really hard to win games.”

Many teachers use bonding as way to build confidence, whether it be for speaking up in class and sharing their ideas in their classroom.

“I think that in writing classes in particular, students have to be very vulnerable to share their work,” AP Language and Compositing teacher Bonnie Staudt said. “And so the more they can trust and respect each other, the more comfortable they feel sharing their big vulnerability, which is typically writing.”