An ethnographic study of cohesiveness in a college soccer team over a season

Based on an ethnographic study of a collegiate soccer team over an eight-mo nth season, the purpose of this paper is to identify and examine the factor s that contributed to team cohesion. Data were collected via participant ob servation, formal and informal interviews, documentary sources, a field dia ry, and a reflexive journal. The description-analysis-interpretation approa ch recommended by Wolcott (1994) framed the data analysis. Four key themes that influenced cohesion were clear and meaningful roles, selfishness/perso nal sacrifices, communication, and team goals. The fluctuating nature of th ese themes are discussed in relation to the multidimensional heuristic for cohesion presented by Cota, Evans, Dion, Kilik, and Longman (1995).