“Thanks coach!”

Many young people that I’ve coached over the years take the time after every practice to look me in the eyes and say, “Thanks coach!” This doesn’t go unnoticed and I know where it comes from. It comes from parents. Sure, some kids pick up habits like this on their own, but most young people, I’ve had four-year olds that do it, have learned it from their parents.

Instilling gratitude into the young people around us is powerful. Not only is it the right thing to do, but a grateful athlete is often a driven athlete. When kids are thankful for their opportunities, they tend to want to make the most of those opportunities. Teaching them to be thankful isn’t just right, but it can be effective in helping their attitude and effort, two things that we always want to put an emphasis on!

So here’s a way we can encourage our young athletes to be thankful, have them thank a coach. Attached is a .jpg they can share via e-mail or to a coach’s social media page. They can write a few words to go with it and tell a coach why they are thankful for them.