The following was shared to us by Spencer Wood.
I recently received a great question from a coach who will have a large number of new players on the team this coming season and who needed a quick hitting idea to build chemistry on his team.
A great team bonding exercise that I have used with many teams also teaches the athletes new things about their teammates. The game is called “Two Lies – One Truth.” Each athlete writes three interesting and fun/outlandish things about themselves on a piece of paper (no other teammate on the team should be aware of the statement’s truth or fallacy). Two of these ‘facts’ should be false and the third fact should be true. All of the athletes sit in a circle and take turns reading one of their facts to the team. After each fact is read, each of the athletes vote ‘true’ or ‘false’ by raising their right hand (for true) or by raising their left hand (for false). A correct true vote wins a point, a correct ‘false’ vote wins a point, but an incorrect vote loses a point. The coach (or assistant coach) keeps everyone’s score to determine a winner at the end. If you struggle with player engagement, offer a reward such as a new pair of socks to the winner. The coaching staff should also get involved in this game! This simple exercise is easy, fun, shares additional information about one another, and is great for some pre-season bonding!
