Fans and media members alike debate the importance of team chemistry and just how much it impacts winning in sports.

Considering it involves a group of 14 to 18 year-olds, many agree that camaraderie among athletes is extremely important in high school sports. Count ADM volleyball head coach Mary Beth Scott as in that crowd. She talked frequently during the 2014 season about trying to keep things light and fun, especially when it came to her highly accomplished and highly driven seniors.

Those seniors are now gone, and a new team is off to a good start, having gone 4-1 for a second-place finish at the Newton Invitational on Tuesday.

“We go do some team bonding, and that’s all important in trying to make our season fun because they do put in a lot of hard work, and it’s not always easy, and it’s not always fun,” Scott said. “So we have to try and lighten it up with some of the fun times.”

Before the season started, varsity players went to a high-ropes course and cooked dinner together as Scott’s house, for example.

ADM next takes the court in competition at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Boone in its first conference game of the season.