to switch teams

5 3.9

Leave one team or group to join another

phrasal verb
/swɪtʃ timz/

: cambiar de equipo

want to switch teams

I was a professor at Penn when the transgender swimmer Leah Thomas switched teams.

Examples

If not, you might want to consider switching teams.

Blog text (4)
Most of all, I'd love it if OFWGKTA would get educated and switch teams.

Blog text (29)
They can switch teams faster than any skilled disgruntled NBA athlete.

Blog text (27)
As the competition heated up, the star player decided to switch teams to join a rival club that offered a better contract.
Many fans were surprised when their favorite player chose to switch teams after several successful seasons with his original club.
After examining his options, he felt it was time to switch teams and join a group that aligned more with his values.

Synonyms

to defect

vsto switch teams

53 7.1

To leave your country or group to join a rival

is a neutral change of allegiance without implying disloyalty

to go over to

vsto switch teams

5 4.6

To change support from one group or person to another

involves leaving one group to join a different organization

Surface Forms

switch teams infinitive

switched teams past

switched teams past participle

switching teams present participle

switches teams third person singular

Morphology

switch + team

The meaning 'to change one's allegiance or group' is directly and compositionally derived from 'switch' (to move or exchange) and 'team' (a group), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the phrase. This is a common, literal combination used in sports and organizational contexts and follows transparent cross-linguistic logic.

Etymology

Switch teams comes from sports where a player would literally switch shirts and join the other team, moving from one side of the field to the other; this clear picture makes the idea easy to remember. That's why it now means 'to change sides or leave one group to join another'.