Company sports teams have become common ways to bond with coworkers. Many companies offer ultimate frisbee, softball, or other types of sports to join. While joining a team may not sound like the most appealing activity to you, there are many reasons to join in. By joining a company sports team you will get exercise, build a work community, and improve your overall health and well-being.
When you are recently out of treatment, you start to build your life anew without drugs and alcohol. This often includes creating and building new communities at work and home. It also generally means creating healthier habits so you can stay healthy mentally and physically. Joining a company sports team can help with both of these endeavors. Joining also has the added benefit quite often of being highly convenient in terms of time and location.
Benefits of Joining a Company Sports Team
Building habits in your life to help you maintain your sobriety takes time. However, joining a company sports team is a way to help you in multiple ways. It can provide a community of support that is based around an activity not related to drugs and alcohol while helping you to get exercise regularly in a fun way.
The Importance of Exercise
Learning to care for your health is an important part of recovery, and exercise is a big piece of that. Research published in Frontiers in Psychiatry has shown that those who engage in regular exercise have a lower risk of using drugs or alcohol. By exercising, you improve your well-being, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. These all help you to feel better overall, which in turn helps to decrease your risk of relapse while in recovery.
The type and intensity of exercise will be dependent on the types of sports teams available. However, all sports generally include some type and amount of movement. This means that you can get exercise in a way that is fun and organized by others. This takes the pressure off of creating an exercise schedule for yourself. Since it is a company team, it is likely even more convenient as it is composed of others with similar schedules and who work in the same office.
Building Community
In recovery, you will likely need to make adjustments to many parts of your life. This includes the community you spend time with and how you spend time together. Joining a company sports team is a way to spend time with co-workers in a drug- and alcohol-free environment. This leaves you to meet new people and build relationships.
Creating a community is important in recovery, especially when you are newly out of treatment. A study published in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs revealed that support from a community helps improve your recovery outcome. By building a community, you create relationships that can support and nurture you. When you are newly in recovery, this is very important as old relationships may not help you to stay sober.
Challenges of Joining a Company Sports Team
There are many positives to joining a company sports team. However, it can also feel daunting to build a new community. When joining in, you will need to manage new triggers.
Adapting to a New Community
When you are newly out of treatment, you are in the midst of many changes. This includes looking at your current community and determining whether it supports your life without drugs and alcohol. It also means building a new community. While a new community is helpful, it can also be challenging. It takes good communication skills to get to know new people and build relationships with them.
On a company sports team, you will also need to communicate well to promote the success of the team. Difficulties that could arise on a sports team might include a call you do not agree with or not being assigned to the position you desire. Regardless of the situation, it is important to utilize communication skills learned in treatment to create boundaries and communicate your needs respectfully to others on your team.
Managing Triggers
As you know, triggers are different for each individual. Triggers can exist both internally, as with self-imposed feelings or thoughts, or externally such as with physical locations or situations. On a company sports team, a variety of triggers exist. From the team celebrating a victory at a bar to frustration over not playing well, you may be triggered in multiple ways.
Part of treatment is learning how to identify and manage triggers. One method is to have a plan. If you believe the team is going to invite you out to a bar, think of a few responses or alternative suggestions you could make like going to a coffee shop. However, there are many ways to manage triggers.
The most important thing is for you to feel comfortable using these skills in a new environment such as a company sports team. Ultimately, the best way to learn these skills is through a trusted treatment program where you can improve your self-awareness and learn skills that will help you to live a sober life.
Joining a company sports team can help you to build community, enjoy physical activity, and improve overall health. This, in turn, impacts your recovery outcome. While it can feel nerve-racking to try out a new community, getting help from a treatment facility will help. At Pacific Sands Recovery Center, we help working professionals learn how to build a life that supports sobriety. If you are struggling with addiction, we can help you improve your self-awareness and learn skills that support your life after treatment. Call us today at (949) 426-7962 to speak with a staff member and learn more about our programs and how we can help you heal from addiction.
