Chief’s Mana in action; a study investigating the team’s perspective.

Team culture, and its relevance to performance behaviour and attitudes, has recently gained increased focus in sport psychology research and practice (Schroeder, 2010; Cruickshank & Collins 2012; Morgan, Fletcher & Sarkar, 2014). Cruickshank and Collins (2012) state that“high performing cultures prevail when the shared perception and action of the elite team environment members; (a) supports sustained optimal performance; (b) persists across time in the face of variable results(i.e. wins, losses, ties); and most importantly, (c) leads to consistently high performance” (p.340). Spink et al. (2013) found preliminary evidence that a positive psychological climate, as defined by the significance and meaning of the work environment to the individual, is also linked to increased athlete effort. Various researchers suggests that it is a difficult task to change, cultivate and maintain a team culture, that is the social and psychological environment, which promotes best performance (Cruickshank & Collins 2012; Schroeder, 2010)