Why Cross Country is the Ultimate Team Sport

by Cameron Bonsey

“ We’ve been talking and preaching about everyone running not just for themselves, but for the team.”


This quote is from my son Brandon, in a recent article about the Georgetown men’s and women’s cross country teams.


As a life long runner and proud father of three accomplished runners, I have come to realize what an amazing team sport cross-country truly is. In fact, it is the ultimate team sport.


Many people think of cross-country as an individual sport where teammates simply run to their individual ability with no connection to each other and no game plan. On a well coached cross-country team that couldn’t further from the truth.


Because most team sports are designed to go head to head against the opponent with specific plays and game plans, the average sports fan can’t imagine that everyone running in the same direction with a score tabulated by the lowest score based on your top five runners would be anything other than an individual sport that happens to have a team scoring concept.


Here are some things to consider. In team sports like baseball, basketball or football, a team can win because one or two players had a great game or made the right play at the right time. In fact, a player can actually be having a terrible game and at the right moment make the play that wins the game.


In basketball an individual can score 50 points and have a huge impact on whether or not their team wins. In cross-country, where the lowest score wins, the biggest impact one person can have is one point. They can totally dominate and win but that effort will never be worth more than one point. This puts the pressure on the rest of the team to perform well because five runners have to have great races to win.


In a cross-country race, from the moment the gun goes off, each runner has to perform and put themselves in position to score. There is no “timeout” to collect your thoughts or run a play. Each step they take either puts them in a position to score or not. If they are having a bad race, a few outstanding steps is not going to change that. You have to be good and consistent throughout the race.


Traditional team sports can have complicated plays where people have to execute in a moment. In cross-country every moment and each step counts.


In seasonal meets every runner on a cross-country team gets to complete the course or “play the entire game.” Who actually becomes part of the scoring team is a completely objective process.


Because everyone’s individual process is based on the same circumstances, individual preparation and skill, each team runner understands and respects the other runners (except for the occasional self-centered asshole). On well-coached teams the coaches know exactly how to use this positive emotion to their advantage.


It is one thing to be able to reach down and pull something out of yourself just because you are individually tough. It is another level of accomplishment to be struggling as an individual and being able to pull something out of yourself simply because you are part of a team and want to do your best because they are counting on you.


I’ve seen cross-country runners get spiked, lose a shoe, sprain an ankle and actually break a leg during a race and finish. They are individually tough and when they come together as a team they become even tougher.


Great coaches know exactly how to make the most of this team spirit.


It starts with understanding the individual emotional, intellectual and physical capabilities of each runner and then spending months designing workouts, pairing them with others, and using each workout to increase their individual and team self-esteem.


On the day of a race great coaches always have a distinct plan based on the course, the teams they are facing, (Yes they face multiple teams at one, another piece of strategy that “traditional” team sport coaches don’t encounter) the weather and how their team strength matches all those factors.


When Brandon talks about “ running for the team” he is talking about the process of each runner understanding theirs strengths, making the most of their individual talent and digging deeper simply because each runner wants to win as a team.




That is what great coaches do and that is why cross-country is the ultimate team sport.

Keith Conning: Cameron Bonsey is the father of Brandon Bonsey, men's assistant cross country coach at Georgetown University.