Actively listen to understand – maintain eye contact, face each other, ask open ended questions, and repeat back what you heard, i.e. “What I hear you saying is…”.
Demonstrate care to support struggling athletes or to celebrate a success.
View empathy as a way of being, not a tool to use in certain situations.
Be available before and after practice to connect with athletes.
Be mindful of your body language and tone of voice.
Share real life examples of empathy in sports and in the news.
Remove judgment when giving feedback to athletes.
Take a breath so you can thoughtfully respond, instead of letting your own emotions get the best of you.
Don’t make assumptions on how athletes are feeling, confirm with them.
Thank athletes when they are sharing their feelings.
Amongst Teammates
Give athletes the opportunity to give feedback to each other. Encourage positive and specific feedback.
Help athletes identify commonalities between each other.
Encourage athletes to see other perspectives, i.e. “What might that feel like?”.
Create pair and share opportunities for meaningful connection.
Within Activities
Create skill development opportunities so athletes can see their own progress. Have teammates connect to and celebrate each other’s accomplishments and support each other through struggles.
Use cooperative games in practices, i.e. complete a certain number of passes before you can shoot.
