Establish shared routines for competition or match days. This provides security and knowledge of what will happen, which can reduce nervousness and increase the sense of participation and influence.
How it works:
- Discuss: “What do we need to do before the competition to feel ready?”
- The children suggest: playlist, warm-up, pep talk—as a leader, you provide support as needed and summarize what they have decided.
- Create a shared routine that becomes “your thing.”
For example: “30 min before the match = joint warm-up with our playlist playing on the speaker, 5 min before = team huddle where we get competition-ready and do a pep talk”.
Let the routine be a living process and evolve over time based on what works best for your group!
