Team Toxicity
When I think of toxic teams, one of the first things I think about is Nathan and Lucas Scott from One Tree Hill prior to the two of them becoming friends. If you’re unfamiliar with the show, Nathan and Lucas are half brothers. They share the same father but have different mothers. Their dad is LITERALLY the worst. He left Lucas’ mom, who was pregnant with Lucas at the time, so he could continue his basketball career. While playing basketball at college, he met Nathan’s mom, got her pregnant, and then married her. Because of all of the family drama, Nathan and Lucas did not get along. Just like his father, Nathan becomes the star of the high school basketball team. One day, Lucas is recruited by the coach to join the team. Unsurprisingly, Nathan is not happy with the new addition to the team and makes it quite clear. Nathan and Lucas had a very toxic relationship for a long time. Below is a video that shows how their toxic relationship impacted the basketball team as a whole.
Their actions caused them to be ejected from the game. By being childish and petty, they created a toxic atmosphere for the rest of the team. Eventually, their relationship got better, but it took a very long time.
Continuing the theme of toxic high school teams, allow me to tell a story about my high school volleyball team. My senior year, there were four seniors total. Two of those seniors did not like each other. At all. There had always been some tension between them but it was the worst during our senior year. They were constantly at each other’s throats and did not trust one another. The two girls played in the back row together and the communication between them was nonexistent. Communication is key in volleyball and these girls were not able to figure it out for the longest time. They are both very stubborn, which is not always a bad thing, but in this case it stopped them from apologizing to each other and listening to anyone else’s advice. One day at practice, our coach saw the toxicity that had been building between them when one of them snapped at the other during one of our huddles. Everyone else stood wide-eyed, frozen in fear of what was going to happen next. Our coach pulled the two aside to talk to them and had everyone else continue on with practice. After she was done talking to them, she called some other players over to see what the deal with them was. At the end of practice, our coach called the two girls over again and said something to them before they left for the day. I’m not sure what was said, but it must have been something that made them pull their heads out of their butts and realize how their actions impacted the team. They played a lot better together after our coach talked to them. Our team was not completely free of toxicity afterwards, but it was a lot better.
Luckily for me, that is about the extent of the toxic groups I have been a part of. Somehow I have been pretty lucky with groups so far in life. I’ve definitely encountered people who don’t always pull their weight, but the times I’ve encountered someone with a toxic attitude are few and far between. I know that will not always be the case, but fingers crossed my groups stay free from toxicity!