ost people have probably seen an inspirational poster encouraging teamwork. It looks something like this:

T ogether
E veryone
A chieves
M ore

Yes, it's trite and cliché, but if my parents had more of a sense of humour, my middle name would be Trite. I like it; the sentiment behind it is valid and as important to officials as it is to team-sport athletes.

Anyone who has ever been on championship teams will tell you that it takes a cohesive unit to perform consistently well. Teams that don't do as well tend not to be teams at all, just groups of individuals who all play the same sport at the same time and place while wearing the same uniform colors.

Continued...