“She’s like my best friend,” Gwen Gustafson and Emma Hargrave said almost simultaneously.
“Like a sister,” Madalynn Georges chipped in.
This is the type of relationship Coupeville High School volleyball coach Breanne Smedley and Jon Gabelein of Coupeville Elementary School envisioned when they started the Wolf Buddy program.
The program partners elementary students like Gustafson, Hargrave and Georges with members of the high school volleyball team.
All Coupeville fourth and fifth graders were eligible to join Wolf Buddies. Forty-two applied (with parent permission) and were matched up, based on interests and hobbies, with one of the 24 volleyball players, according to Gabelein.
“Many elementary students look up to the high school students as role models,” Smedley said. “Wolf Buddies allows these students to have positive and encouraging interactions with these athletes.
“It also allows high school athletes to accept the responsibility of being a role model in our community and use this to positively impact younger students.”
Studies shave shown that students involved in activities have better grades, attendance and behavior than those who don’t.
One of the goals of the program is to give youngsters access to volleyball at an early age, Smedley said, and to develop long-term growth as a player.
“Elementary students who have a positive interaction with a high school athlete are more likely to choose to play a sport when they have the opportunity to do so,” Smedley said. “Athletics benefit students academically, cognitively and socially, and if students are gaining interest in sports at a young age, they have a better chance to experience these benefits as they go through school.”
Gabelein sees the program as a way to “provide our students with an additional positive role model who can provide motivation toward making positive choices.”
Smedley said the hope is the Buddies will benefit from meeting the high school players on a consistent one-on-one basis.
“The volleyball players will gain leadership skills and benefit from the accountability of having a Buddy look up to them during the season,” Smedley said.
The players and their Buddies share lunch and recess time once a week. This allows them, Smedley said, to share common interests and “relate to each other’s experiences in school and life.”
The Buddies are invited to all home volleyball matches, take part in pre-game activities and sit in a reserved section behind the team’s bench.
“The feedback has been very positive so far,” Smedley said. “The volleyball players seem to really enjoy the time they get with their Buddies as well as reliving some of their elementary days.”
Hargrave called the interaction with the high school players “fun,” especially when they “eat lunch with us and play at recess.”
“They don’t get to stay very long,” Gustafson lamented, “because they have to get back to school.”
Any minutes the high school and elementary students can spend together, according to Smedley and Gabelein, will be beneficial minutes for both groups.
