For a team made up of both newcomers to the game and a handful seasoned veterans, the culture that is established in the early going of the season will be imperative to success for the Braves Varsity Softball team.

“A culture is the expression of a team’s values, attitudes, and beliefs about sports and competition. It determines whether the team’s focus is on fun, mastery, or winning or whether it promotes individual accomplishment or team success. A team’s culture is grounded in an identified sense of mission and shared goals,” says Dr. Jim Taylor, sports contributor for the Huffington Post.

The Braves Varsity Softball squad isn’t all that big of a team, but they need will be wearing some really big rings come May, according to senior Annie Wright.

This goal is far from insurmountable for the team, but it’s going to take the right kind of culture both in and outside of their games to achieve it.

This year’s team is made up of predominantly underclassmen as well as a handful of upperclassmen who are playing their first year with the program. Don’t let this fool you though; the seniors who have been around will more likely than not be the key to the team’s positive moral.

“The seniors are definitely setting expectations for the team,”  said sophomore Gianna Marchese, “and they’re helping everyone including themselves. They’re really good role models and leaders for everyone on the team, so I think their presence is really important right now, but also for the development of the program going forward.”

The impact of any individual players, however, will never be enough to win consistently. Like with any sport, you need your full team to contribute. The Braves, no exception, will need their full squad before they are able to compete to the best of their abilities in games. With only 10 players eligible to play in the team’s first game, the Braves were handed a loss to begin the their regular season campaign.

“Dropping our first game wasn’t all bad though because now we know what we need to work moving forward on in practice,” said senior Meredith Beach  “It gives us a practice regimen that works for us that was unidentified at the start of the season.”

The Braves take on Shorewood for their second game of the season this afternoon at Shorewood, looking obtain their first win of the season. The team is fully aware that a win with a roster that is far from being at full strength would make a huge statement to rest of the Metro League. According to Wright, the team has the ability to “finesse” their way through Metro League  competition.

The team knows their first  was an uncharacteristic performance given their roster situation entering the contest, and will not be fatigued by a tough game out of the gates. This comes as a direct result of the culture that has been established. The team values each and every member and knows that they aren’t themselves without everyone available to contribute. They have a positive attitude moving forward, taking only positives away from their first game, and they believe that they can only get better from here on out.