Why Hoop Matter asks 10 to 14 year olds to journal

Ask most young basketballers how their game went and you will hear about points, minutes and the referee. Ask them what they learned about themselves and you will often get a shrug. Not because there is nothing there, but because nobody has asked them to look.

That is why the You Matter Journal in the Hoop Matter kit asks one question a day, five days a week, for 10 weeks, with two free days to write whatever they like. Small and regular beats long and occasional. A question takes a couple of minutes. Fifty of them add up to a record your player can look back on.

Small and regular beats long and occasional.

The questions follow the five Matters. In the You Matter fortnight they are about values and strengths. In Mind Matter, self-talk and mistakes. In Team Matter, the people around them. Health Matter turns to fuel, sleep and rest, and Future Matter to what they want the game to give them.

Three things help the habit stick. Keep the journal where they will see it: next to the training bag beats a desk drawer. Do not mark it; ask what they want to share rather than reading it. And pair it with something that already happens, like the drive home from training, where the Ride Home Check fits too.

There is a page for Plays That Matter: moments, on court or off, they want to remember. Some weeks that is a great assist. Some weeks it is helping a teammate up. Both count.

If your player misses a day, nothing is lost. Pick up the next one. The goal is not a perfect streak. It is a young athlete a little more used to looking inward, and a family with a few more good conversations. Tools for the game. Tools for life.

See what is inside the Hoop Matter kit