Miracle, By Herb Brooks

“It was a lot more than a hockey game,” stated Herb Brooks, a college hockey coach, who was hired to train and instruct the U.S. men's hockey team in the 1980 Olympics. Filling his roster with twenty college ego-focused all-star athletes, he presented the goal of defeating the Soviet hockey team and winning the Olympic gold medal. However, to achieve this goal, Coach Brooks needed to teach the lessons of teamwork, hard work, and mental toughness. With the lessons of discipline, hockey basics, and the excruciating pain of conditioning, the U.S. hockey team molded into a family which incorporated beating the Soviet hockey team in the Olympics and later winning the gold medal. The movie Miracle demonstrates the perseverance of determination, hard

When forming the roster, all the hockey players started with a very high ego motivation. Each solely relied on being superior and was motivated to out-compete the other players for a position on the team. Additionally, because the players focused on becoming better than everyone else, they exhibited signs of low task motivation by not improving their skills and performances. Because the team revealed signs of high ego and low task motivation, it created a barrier to developing a team and competing at the highest level. To achieve teamwork and build success, the team and coach concentrated on group development. The team endured stages such as forming, storming, norming, and performing to help compete at the highest level and develop group success. During the forming stage, Coach Brooks developed a roster, and each team member established the rules, goals, and game expectations, while also learning how to trust each other on and off the ice. The forming stage of developing a team can create many dramatic episodes and take time to adjust to the new environment. The adjustment periods resulted in the storming phase of team development. For instance, each individual expressed conflict between athlete to

Because of the team's ability to come together, they established success and relationships; therefore, successful teamwork overpowers high individual abilities. Coach Brooks stated in the film, “All-star teams fail because they rely solely on the individuals’ talent.” Having teams without any team chemistry creates drama and conflict. Additionally, relying on one athlete with incredible talent does not establish the opportunity to learn and grow as a team and individual. Research has shown that collaboration, problem-solving, and teamwork increase game outcomes and the overall well-being of the players. Shifting a team's mindset from solely relying on oneself to relying on each other creates the players to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses that contribute to the overall vision and goal of the team. Therefore, having the support of teammates overpowers individual talents and contributes to an overall better working