Everyone Says Culture Wins Games. What Else Can It Do?

Culture is one of the most commonly used words in sport. When teams win, culture gets the credit. When programs turn around quickly, culture is the explanation. When sustained success is hard to describe, culture fills the space.

But culture is rarely examined on its own. Instead, it is usually inferred from results. Winning becomes the evidence. Losing invites questions.

That shortcut creates a blind spot. It assumes that success on the field accurately reflects what is happening inside a program, rather than asking what behaviors, norms, and expectations actually exist day to day. Culture becomes something we point to after the fact, not something we evaluate while it is being built.

As a result, culture is often treated as a feeling, rather than the operating system that shapes how people develop, perform, and carry themselves in and beyond sport.

Winning Alone Does Not Tell the Full Story

In sport, culture is often judged by the scoreboard. Winning teams are said to have strong cultures. Losing teams are labeled dysfunctional. But success on the field does not necessarily reflect the underlying health of a program or the individuals that go through that program.

Some programs achieve incredible results but struggle with off-field issues, burnout, or athletes who lose their sense of self outside of sport. Other programs focus on developing people alongside performance. Athletes graduate, build skills beyond athletics, and remain connected to the program long after eligibility ends. Retention, academic success, mental and physical health, long-term identity development, and alumni engagement are all ways to evaluate culture more deeply than wins ever could.

Culture Is Built in the Small Moments

Culture is not what is written on a poster or said in a pep talk. It is how people behave when no one is watching. It is how teammates treat each other, what is rewarded, what is tolerated, and what is enforced consistently. Culture grows in the small daily interactions that add up over time, not in one-time speeches or slogans.

A successful program I recently spoke with captures this perfectly. When asked how they built their culture, the players did not talk about rules or motivational statements. They said,

“we build culture by showing how we do things.”

Every practice, meeting, and interaction was a chance to model the standards they expected, reinforce habits, and create norms that could survive beyond individual players or coaches.

In programs where culture is truly strong, athletes describe development that extends beyond the field. They talk about skill growth, accountability, and frameworks that help them navigate challenges on and off the field. This culture is lived, not preached. It shows up in long-term outcomes: athletes graduating, maintaining their health, and staying connected years after eligibility ends.

What Can Go Wrong When Culture Focuses Only on Winning

Culture can also be fragile. Programs that focus almost entirely on winning may dominate on the field while missing key aspects of athlete development. When emphasis is placed only on performance, the long-term consequences can include burnout, poor mental health, off-field behavioral issues, a lack of preparation for life after sport, and athletes struggling to find identity beyond competition.

Talent and structure can hide these gaps for a while, and winning can mask underlying problems. Over time, however, these issues often become clear. Programs that overlook the full benefits of culture risk producing athletes who succeed in the moment but are unprepared for the challenges and responsibilities that come after their sport careers end.

Programs that endure are those that pay attention to every moment on the field, in the classroom, and in life. They cultivate habits, standards, and patterns of behavior that support people as athletes and as humans. Operational culture is not just about winning games. It is about helping people thrive both during and after their time in sport.

Culture Is About How People Show Up

Culture ultimately lives in individuals. It shows up when structure loosens, when pressure rises, and when no one is watching. It is reflected in how people treat one another, how they uphold standards, and how they respond when winning is no longer the immediate reward.

Leaders can influence culture by setting direction, modeling behavior, and clarifying priorities. But they do not fully control it. The real measure of culture emerges over time, in who athletes become, how they carry themselves beyond sport, and whether the habits they learned continue to serve them long after competition ends.

Winning may validate culture in the moment. Enduring culture is revealed later, when the uniform comes off and the lessons either hold or fade.