Getting your youth athlete organized shouldn’t be hard. Want the Home Edit version for youth sports? We have five basic tips for youth sports parents and players that will help you lessen the amount of arguing over “Where is my uniform?”. Let’s “home edit” a player’s sports items.
When I was coaching an 18 year old this past year, she forgot to bring her pinny. She was supposed to wear the pinny at every practice as part of the practice uniform. Why did I want them to wear the pinny to every practice? First, it shows discipline. Second, it shows uniformity amongst the players. And third, we can swap out the colors for games. There are a lot of benefits for the team.
Her answer to my question was: “My mom forgot to wash it”. Well my quick response was along the line of how she needed to be accountable for her own stuff.
Why should your athlete(s) be organized?
- Shows them accountability for their actions
- Teaches them to take care of their own “business”
- Shows respect to their family members and coaches
- Allows athletes to take control of things they can control, it will help with their mental state
Being organized costs you nothing. It helps teach them many life lessons. Many times I have kids that leave items at practice and it actually stresses them out to think they may have lost the item or have to tell their parents about it. By teaching your player to be organized, it helps them be in control of their items. This makes them accountable.
5 Easy Tips to Be Organized
Store Your Uniform in its own Drawer.
Encourage your athlete to have a place for their uniform. You can call it a uniform drawer. It is the same place that every uniform is in. This way they know where it is day in and day out.
Have Equipment in One Spot.
Store their equipment in one spot. This allows for easy access from your athlete. We use a garage locker and hooks on the wall to hang sticks. If you don’t have a locker or a garage, you can store your items in your closet or room. This helps you find your equipment easily and you will never misplace something.
Organize Food the Night Before an Event.
Yes, think and plan ahead, it will help you on early morning trips. You will need to stay hydrated with sports drinks and water, check out our article on hydration. Make sure you have the drinks you need, do not rely on getting something at the venue. A lot of times they may sell out of drinks. Bring what you can.
Have a Shelf of Drawer for Sports Snacks.
We have a snack drawer at our house that has pre-packaged food that the family members can grab and go. It helps everyone feel empowered to grab and pack their own snacks for the day.
Type up Reminders and Tasks.
Most of your athletes have a phone. Encourage your youth sports athletes to type in reminders and add things on their calendar. It will help them not forget items or important things.
For more tips for your youth sports athlete(s), check out iSport360’s Youth Sports Survival Guide.
For more information on how iSport360 works with soccer teams, click here. The original post can be found here. Author Amy Masters is a coach, former college field hockey player and the head of marketing for iSport360. She is a true quant-marketer with experience acquiring customers for American Express and several early stage companies.