The Duggar buddy teams have been talked about a lot this season on Counting On. While they are no longer in use in real-time, they were a helpful tool for the family back when they had several young kids at once.
Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar developed the buddy teams to help manage all of the children at once. While many of the children are now married and have children of their own, some of them still hang out and spend time with their siblings who were on their buddy team.
What is a Duggar buddy team?
A buddy team consists of one of the older Duggar siblings who then would be responsible for a few of the younger children. As each new child was born, they were rotated into a new team.
Things that buddy teams did together include shopping trips, school, mealtime, and other things that would require extra hands while doing any activity. The older Duggar siblings took responsibility for the younger ones, developing tight bonds with them as the years grew.
Duggar women were the head of the teams. Jana, Jill, Jessa, and Jinger were the four buddy team captains. This was especially helpful for when the younger generation.
The older boys didn’t appear to have clear buddies, though they were sometimes seen with some of the younger boys who were still considered to belong with the older set of children.
View this post on Instagram
Which Duggar was on which buddy team?
Each older daughter had a team. Jana Duggar was in charge of Jason, Jackson, and Josie. The bond this group shared has been highlighted over and over through various seasons of Counting On, but most recently, Jason Duggar stepping in on a troll who asked about Jana was proof of their special bond.
Jill Duggar’s team consisted of Joy-Anna, Jennifer, and James. Since Jill was the first Duggar daughter to get married, she was the first one who had to leave her buddy team. Joy-Anna Duggar stepped up to take over where her big sister left off.
Jessa Duggar’s buddy team included Jeremiah, Justin, and Jordyn. These kids have remained close and that was proven when Jessa married Ben Seewald. While she left the big house, her relationship with her siblings remained close.
Jinger Duggar’s buddy team was made of up Jedidiah and Johannah. They were the smallest bunch with only three members because of how the numbers fell. Jinger moved away when she married Jeremy Vuolo, leaving her buddies behind.
In the most recent episode of Counting On, the buddy teams were used to help decipher teams for the Duggar Dash. Not all of them were put together the same as when the children were younger because of missing adults, but Michelle Duggar tried to keep them as similar as possible.
Counting On airs Tuesday nights at 9/8c on TLC.