When athletes feel connected—to their teammates, coaches, and the mission of the team—they begin to invest more deeply. This sense of belonging doesn’t just impact their play on the field helping maximize their talents; it transforms their engagement with school and community as well.

Research consistently shows that highly connected programs perform better on and off the field. Why? Because connection builds trust, and trust fuels openness, motivation, and resilience.

Dr. Amy Edmondson, a Harvard researcher and leading voice in organizational psychology, has studied what she calls psychological safety on teams. Her work reveals a striking truth: teams that feel safe with each other report more errors—not because they make more, but because they feel comfortable admitting them. That honesty leads to better learning, faster fixes, and stronger outcomes. Teams that lack this safety? They hide their mistakes, communicate less, and plateau in performance.

Now let’s connect the dots to high school sports.
Studies about belonging show that only 39% of high school students feel a strong sense of belonging at school (www.brookings.edu/articles/the-disengagement-gap). While 62% of the adults involved at school believe that their child feels like they belong. Our adult perception, is not reality. In this gap lies a massive opportunity for coaches and our schools. Typically, 67% of high school students are involved in athletics. If we can help coaches learn how to intentionally build safety and belonging on their teams through Team Connectedness, that means that at least 67% of our students in our schools will feel connected and safe.

When people feel safe and connected, they achieve greater results because they learn to:

• Admit mistakes without fear
• Communicate openly with adults and teammates
• Work harder and invest more in themselves and the groups they are connected to

How Does Grit Leadership Measure Team Connectedness?
We are measuring it with eight distinct questions. The answers to these questions give coaches direct feedback on where they are strong, or need improvement, in the psychological safety and belonging within their teams. Grit Leadership and Memphis University have adapted these markers from Harvard and Baylor’s studies to measure Team Connectedness in the athletic/coaching world:

1. I do not fear making mistakes in practice and contests because I know my coach focuses more on learning and growth than perfection and winning.
2. My coach values my unique skills and talents.
3. When I make a mistake and coach corrects me or instructs me, I feel encouraged to improve and try again.
4. It is easy to ask my teammates and coaches for help when I’m struggling.
5. My coach consistently respects and values players’ input.
6. My coach fosters an encouraging environment where every team member feels heard and appreciated.
7. Coach encourages us to bring up challenging and difficult issues about the team throughout the season.
8. I love being part of this team.

These statements aren’t just survey items. They are cultural barometers. When analyzed by the Grit Leadership system, the results help coaches build environments where these statements ring true to the people they lead. When this happens on a team, coaches are creating more than athletes. They create confident, connected students who are ready to lead and thrive now, and year’s to come.

Team Connectedness isn’t just the secret sauce to performance—it’s the foundation for impacting lives well beyond the season.  

Team Connectedness will be measured through all of Grit Leadership’s end of season surveys. It can also be measured during the season with Grit Leadership’s Midseason Check-ins – where coaches send short surveys directly to their athletes after practices or games, and receive data from them about their experiences and the team’s culture. Coaches can send these 1-2 minute check-ins as often as they want to during a season, before its too late.

Note: Team Connectedness can only be measured for your school if you have a survey template from the 2024-25 school year or after. If you want Grit Leadership to measure Team Connectedness for you, please contact our team at [email protected] to get your template updated. 

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Team Connectedness is inspired by work from Harvard’s Amy Edmondson, Baylor University’s Center for School Leadership, and The Brookings Institution.