How to coach identity, belonging and performance in sport
Most books about team culture tell inspiring stories of legendary squads. This one shows you exactly how to build that same magic in your own team.
“I couldn’t recommend it more… I was really swept away by it.”
— Bruce Daisley, bestselling author
Think about the best team you’ve ever been part of. Not the most talented — the one where you’d have done anything for each other.
Where turning up wasn’t a chore, it was the best part of your week. Where you played harder than you thought you could because you didn’t want to let them down.
That feeling wasn’t luck. It was identity. And this book shows you how to create it — deliberately, repeatably — in any team you coach.
We asked coaches what drives them mad. These are real answers.
“Players not reciprocating the effort coaches put in. Giving half effort or not turning up at all is insulting.”
Rugby coach, adult amateur“Constant disruptions and lack of focus, especially among the most skilled players.”
Coach, U13–U18, 8+ years“Players not believing in themselves and teammates and not putting in the work 100%.”
Rugby coach, U13–U18These aren’t motivation problems. They’re identity problems. And they’re fixable.
The TRIBE approachNot inspiring anecdotes you can’t replicate. A practical playbook with over 60 tools you can use this week.
A step-by-step process for building team identity — the same method used by Olympic programmes and the Royal Marines, adapted for any coaching context.
Tools you can drop into any session — warm-ups, huddles, team talks, travel time. Build connection without adding hours to your schedule.
Turn the everyday rituals — the bus journey, the kit room, the five minutes before kick-off — into the moments your players remember for life.
Written for coaches juggling muddy pitches, mismatched kit, bad weather and players with fragile confidence. Not for perfect facilities — for coaches with heart.
Our research identified five beliefs that explain 88.6% of the variation in team identity strength.
Each belief is a building block of shared identity and a practical area you can strengthen in your team.
The TRIBE protocol was developed through a seven-year research collaboration with the University of Sussex.
TRIBE Pulse is a free survey your players complete on their phones. You get a clear picture of where your team stands — and where to focus.
Use it alongside the book to track progress as you build belonging, commitment and pride. No sport psychology degree required.
Hove Spartans U14 · 8 responses
The book is the starting point. A growing set of tools and experiences to help you go deeper.
A behaviourally anchored observation framework designed to help coaches recognise the visible signs of strong team identity while watching training sessions or matches.
Coaches rate 19 observable behaviours across these six core factors using practical behavioural anchors. From communication and togetherness to resilience, accountability and self-regulation, the SPI-OI helps you spot both the presence of strong collective behaviours and the warning signs of fragmentation — allowing team identity to be tracked and developed over time through real-world observation.
Free online diagnostic. Your players take 90 seconds. You see exactly where your team’s identity is strong and where it needs work.
Structured course through UK Coaching’s premium section. Guided learning based on the book with practical exercises.
A personal TRIBE coach on your phone. Ask it anything about your team challenges and get specific, practical guidance.
Connect with coaches building identity-driven teams. Share what works, get support, learn from each other.
Bring TRIBE to your club, academy or school. Hands-on sessions that give your whole coaching team the tools to build belonging.
Full-day programme for PE departments. Build skills to create groups where every young person feels they belong.
Want early access? Get in touch and we’ll keep you updated.
Jeremy J Holt is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist and founder of the Centre for Team Excellence, specialising in leadership, team identity, and high performance. For more than 35 years, he has worked with elite sport, the military, and senior leadership teams across 42 countries, helping teams build the shared identity, belonging, and alignment needed to thrive under pressure.
Alongside his professional work, Jay spent more than two decades coaching grassroots rugby at Hove Rugby Football Club. What struck him was that the same principles helping Olympic champions, military units, and elite organisations perform at their best worked just as powerfully with young grassroots players. When teams developed a strong shared identity — a genuine sense of “us” — commitment, standards, resilience, enjoyment, and performance all changed.
That realisation became the foundation for For the Love of the Game — Jay’s attempt to make the methods and lessons from elite performance environments accessible to any coach who wants to build belonging, togetherness, pride, and high performance within their team. At the heart of the book is the story of the Hove Spartans, a youth rugby team that went from finishing bottom of their league to becoming county champions in a single season, not through better tactics or recruitment, but by transforming how they saw themselves as a team.
In sport, Jay has supported teams and organisations including the GB Women’s Hockey Team (Olympic Gold, Rio 2016), GB Wheelchair Rugby (Paralympic Gold, Tokyo 2021), GB Speedway (World Champions 2021 and 2024), Alpine Formula 1, Warwickshire CCC, Sussex CCC, and Oxford United F.C..
In the military, he has delivered leadership and team development programmes for senior officers from the British Army, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Marines, and UK intelligence services. He coached numerous boards of senior officers to develop performance cultures and worked with the Royal Marines to examine their identity and culture during active operations in Afghanistan.
Jay’s collaboration with the University of Sussex led to the development of the TRIBE protocol — a practical, research-backed framework for building high-performing teams through identity, belonging, and shared purpose. TRIBE is now being used by TeamNL, the Dutch Olympic federation, in preparation for the LA 2028 Olympic Games, and is endorsed by UK Coaching as part of coach development in the UK.
Jay holds a first-class honours degree in Social Psychology from the University of Kent and an MSc in Occupational Psychology from Cranfield University.
As heard on
Listen to Jay discuss team identity, belonging, and what grassroots coaches can learn from elite sport.
Harnessing identity to win — how shared identity eliminates social loafing and drives performance.
Season 11 · Ep 14 — For The Love Of The Game: building elite team identity at the grassroots level.
Ep 82 — An organisational psychologist on identity, cohesion, and why belonging outperforms tactics.
Every coach has the power to create a team full of belonging, pride and commitment. This book shows you how — one session at a time.
Get For The Love Of The Game