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Filling Their Emotional Tank with the Buddy System

Ian Goldberg is the Founder and CEO of iSport360, a SportsTech company that is helping 14,000 coaches, parents and kids set goals, share player feedback and track player development….all so our kids can have more success, more confidence and more fun.  Try iSport360 for free here.

Have you heard about young athletes filling their “Emotional Tank”?  I have to admit, I’m a bit late to the game on this concept.  But I LOVE IT!  I first learned about it from Jim Thompson and our friends at Positive Coaching Alliance.  In short, just like we feed our kids to fuel up before a game, and encourage them to hydrate, we need to make sure they go into competition with a full “Emotional Tank”.  Certainly parents and coaches can help keep the kids’ emotional tank full with compliments and motivation, but real teammates help fill each other’s emotional tanks.
 

How To Fill Their Emotional Tanks With The Buddy System

Laugh if you want.  But I introduced the Buddy System to my daughter’s U10 soccer team and the girls took to it instantly.  In short, each girl was buddied up with another player and was in charge of filling their buddy’s emotional tank.  That meant celebrating their buddy’s accomplishments and helping to shake off their buddy’s mistakes.   It put the responsibility of positive reinforcement, leadership and accountability into the hands of these young players.  So, go ahead….give it a try.  And see an example of a coach putting the Buddy System into action here.
 
And if you are a youth sports parent, coach or administrator, please give iSport360 a try to share player feedback, set objective goals and track player progress at www.iSport360.com.

Learn more or request a demo of our youth sports software that is helping teams improve communication, organization and player development.

June 7, 2019

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