Women head to Moab for team unity

UVU’s women’s basketball team uses a retreat to help build unity and camaraderie in their young team.

Athletic teams participate in different activities to come together as a group. Some have team building games to build trust; others have workshops that help each teammate get to know each other. The UVU women’s basketball team is no different.

Over the fall break the team drove down to Moab for a retreat. This was not a time for them to relax and casually become familiar with other teammates. Instead, they started out the experience Thursday afternoon hiking up an 180-foot arch and then rappelled back down.

This was not only physically tiring but transformed into emotional exhaustion for one girl that experiences an intense fear of heights.
Her teammates turned it into the ultimate team building experience by helping her through the activity.

The next day the team went on a two-mile bike ride. Another member of the team was terrified because of a constant fear of flipping over her handlebars. Everyone on the team again had to pull together and provide needed support.

After the bike ride, the team went on a six-hour hike where they rappelled down two more cliffs; one 80 feet and the other 120 feet.
During the hike, team members had to maneuver through different obstacles while carrying objects needed for rappelling.

With only six returning players, the team desperately needed to come together during the retreat and learn how to trust.

Equipped with this much needed experience the Wolverines will be more confident heading into this year’s season. This will be their first year with the potential of playing in the NCAA tournament as a part of the Great West Conference. However, with eight underclassmen playing on the team this year the younger players will end up being the difference makers.