TBRI®️ in Sports

TBRI®️ + Sports

Whether you are a parent, coach, or both, below are ways that you can incorporate TBRI^® (Trust-Based Relational Intervention^®) principles into sports.

TBRI®️ in Sports: Connecting Principles

• Start each practice or game day gathering with check-ins to help players think about and communicate their energy levels. You can use engine plates, hand motions, or another method that the team creates together.
• Remember the most important thing is connecting with your child or the children on your team. Make sure you are incorporating ways to foster connection and remain fully present. This might look like creating unique greetings for each player or making sure you have another coach present.
• Promote the togetherness of a team in practices and games through mutual encouragement activities. 
• Incorporate healthy touch, like high-fives and fist bumps.

TBRI®️ in Sports: Empowering Principles

• Be aware of how the environment might be impacting sensory input. Gyms are typically loud and busy, and outdoor field conditions can change with the weather and seasons.
• Plan both up-regulating and down-regulating activities.
• Teach and demonstrate the importance of hydration and healthy, protein-rich snacks. Give water breaks often, and start or end practice by enjoying a snack together.
• Create predictability, and give choices. Try to keep the same schedule for practices and game days, and always give players the choice to participate.

TBRI®️ in Sports: Correcting Principles

• Incorporate simple scripts into practice and games. Discuss these with the team or your child beforehand and use them whenever you can.
• When correcting a player, either for a behavior or a skill, keep them close to you by having them sit or stand next to you on the sideline, rather than sending them away.
• For any behaviors that do arise, follow the IDEAL Response.

Whether it is on the field, in the classroom, or within your home, TBRI will guide you in connecting with your kids or teens and empowering them to reach their highest potentials. Children and teens who know they have value, feel safe and secure, and have a voice of their own will thrive and flourish both on the field, in the classroom, and at home. To learn more about TBRI and its guiding principles, we invite you to check out hopeforthejourney.com today.