Should Sports Teams Haze?

Initiation rituals can create lasting bonds--or trauma

UPFRONT asked two students at New Canaan High School in New Canaan, Connecticut, for their views on initiation rites for sports teams, which their school bans.

YES When I joined the swim team, the new members were blindfolded and paraded around town in silly outfits. Our initiation wasn't filled with malicious, harmful assaults on teammates, but served instead as a bonding opportunity. Abusive hazing is wrong, but a less harsh rite of passage like the one I experienced can help athletes form bonds that will last through the season and help a team accomplish its goals.

There is a comfort in the humiliation rookies may feel for one evening, knowing that all of their elders experienced the same thing when they started out and that, in a few years, they will be able to re-enact this tradition with future teammates.

Absurd outfits and a little face paint never hurt anyone. In fact, if I could go through initiation again and feel as close as I did to my team that evening, I would. It is an amazing feeling to be able to spend quality time with teammates outside the training environment--especially true when you are the new kid and you strive to be accepted by older athletes

Initiation traditions are fun and bring a team together, but limits should be set as to what constitutes an initiation. While rookies can and should be encouraged to participate in team bonding, they should never be forced into any situation that they feel uncomfortable with. The point of initiations should be to unite a team in a playful fashion.

NO The problem with initiations is that they confuse following tradition with fostering team unity.

Team captains, for the most part well-intentioned, continue initiation rites they experienced as underclassmen because they associate these rites with cooperation, bonding, and team spirit. It's all in good fun, right?

Well, no. I don't think there is ever a good reason to treat people in an intentionally demeaning way. But even if participants think it's fun today, it can get out of hand tomorrow. As a leader, a captain is responsible not just to present team members, but to future members, too.

Also, initiations are unnecessary. Competitive sports inherently foster team unity. Hard work and cooperation on the field do more for team spirit than any initiation rites ever could. Many very successful, united, and spirited athletic teams have existed without traditions of hogtying, beer-guzzling, or head-shaving.

And just because something is a tradition doesn't necessarily mean it's good. If teams have been doing initiations for as long as anyone can recall, how do they know that members would not be even more spirited without them?

Maybe the really brave captains are not those who dare to perform initiations, but those who dare to break tradition to do what they believe is right. After all, isn't blazing your own way what true leadership is supposed to be all about?