A team sport is any sport that is organized into opposing teams which compete to win. Team members act together towards a shared objective, such as outscoring the opposing team. A wide variety of team sports exist, from professional leagues to amateur clubs, to community and school groups.
While the benefits of participating in team sports are often centered on the physical impact of regular exercise, studies have shown that the mental and emotional benefits may be equally important. Developing cooperation and communication skills as part of a team is a critical component to success in any team sport. Teamwork is a key life skill that can be applied in all areas of life, from school to the workplace.
In addition, the social norms associated with sport team membership contribute to a sense of belonging and a desire to succeed within a group, in part because of the high expectations and demands that are placed on the players in terms of both performance and behaviour. This includes the requirement for athletes to attend practice sessions and follow coaches’ instructions, as well as the expectation that all members will work hard during competitions in pursuit of a winning result.
This characteristic sets sport teams apart from other conventional groups, and is reflected in the widespread use of tracking systems to describe training and competition characteristics by playing position in team sports. However, despite the proliferation of such technologies, there remains a need to move beyond descriptive analysis by aligning trackable data with tactical context, for example through the identification of features from raw velocity traces.