Having a child playing sports, much less two or three playing on multiple teams in the same sports season, can be challenge even for the most organized mom.
Here are twenty time and money saving tips for sports parents to help you stay organized during the helter skelter of a youth sports season:
1. Plan Ahead
2. Use the power of the Internet. You can use the Internet to do such things as research and buy sports equipment, get directions to away games and tournaments, confirm schedules, book hotels and make airplane reservations. If the team on which your child plays has a website, be sure that you have it bookmarked so you don't have to waste time trying to find the URL via Google or another search engine.
3. Use e-mail. Most youth sports organizations now use e-mail to keep parents informed of practice schedules, game times, sign-up dates, forms due, tournament dates, directions to games etc. (be sure to print out directions no later than the night before an away game; you don't want to leave it to the last minute or plug the address into your calendar so you can use it to get directions from a smartphone app like Google Maps). E-mail is also a great way to communicate with other parents and the coach.
4. Use three-ring binders. Put information about each child's activities into a three-ring binder, with a section for each child, and keep it updated with schedules for sports, music lessons, Scouts, notices about school activities, team rosters, and phone numbers etc.
5. Keep a good calendar.
6. Use cell phones. With all the "family plans" offered by cell phone companies, equipping your kids with cell phones is a must for busy families on the go. Some cell phone companies are now offering a plan where you can get cell phones for your younger children with up to four pre-programmed numbers and a button to push in case of emergencies. If your child can get rides back from games and practices and calls to let you know, a lot of time (and gas) can be saved.
7. Hold a weekly family planning meeting. Once a week, hold a family meeting to review what happened - good and bad - in the week just ended; and what is coming up in the week ahead. That way everyone in the family knows what everyone else is up to, priorities canbe set, and scheduling conflicts identified (it is amazing how many families get stressed out because they ignore the basic fact that we cannot be in two places at the same time!). If you can't find time to schedule a meeting at home, hold one whenever the entire family is together, such as in restaurant over coffee, cookies and cocoa.
8. Teach your kids to stay organized and manage their own schedule. As your kids get older, they can shoulder more and more of the responsibility of keeping track of their own calendar and reminding you when you need to drive them to practice or to a game.
9. Keep track of everything
10. Get help with the laundry. Make it your child's job to put her dirty uniform in the laundry room or the hamper. You shouldn't have to go rummaging around in his room to find the uniform under a sea of dirty clothes (teenagers really hate you going into theirroom when they aren't there; come to think of it, they don't like you coming in even when they are there). To avoid the hassle of trying to get your child's uniform washed and dried in time for the next practice or game, it may be worth the extra money to buy an extra uniform. Remember that the laundry isn't done until the uniform, jockstrap/sportsbra and socks are back in the drawer, closet or sports bag where your son or daughter can find them.
11. Extra, extra, extra. Keep a large plastic box in the trunk of your car or mini-van containing the following:
13. Keep coolers in the car. Keep two coolers in car: one big, one small. The large one (with wheels) can double as an extra seat; keep ice packs in ziplock bags or buy a supply of chemical ice packs [3].
14. Do an equipment "sweep" after games. Do a sweep of the area around the bench or dugout for your son's or daughter's equipment before leaving a practice or game.
15. Join a carpool. [4] Other parents are running in the same direction as you, so offer to pick up their kid for practice if they'll bring yours home afterwards.
16. Call for backup. When you can't get to a game, ask family andfriends to fill in for you.
17. Multi-task. It is amazing how much time you will end up spending at your child's games and practices (between 6 and 16 hours perweek, according to one study), especially away games and tournaments, doing not much but sitting or standing around, usually talking with other parents who also have nothing to do. Fill the time by getting other things done.
Keep a list of small tasks you can accomplish during the downtime, such as:
18. Pre-cooked meals. On busy days, put supper in a crock pot inthe morning before work; or keep quick meals in the freezer; don't feel guilty if supper is frozen pizza or scrambled eggs; kids love occasional sub-standard meals. For more easy-to-make dinners, click here [5].
19. Packing. Don't wait until the last minute to pack to go awayfor an overnight trip to a tournament. Work from a packing list. Thisway you avoid over-packing because you don't know what to take or forgetting something important and have to waste time and money replacing it in an unfamiliar town.
20. Chaperones. Make sure that your child's team follows the "two adult rule" [6] on road trips.
Have a tip to share? We would love to know: delench@momsteam.com
Adapted from the book, Home Team Advantage: The Critical Role of Mothers in Youth Sports, by MomsTeam.com Founder and Publisher, Brooke de Lench.
Created August 12, 2010; revised August 22, 2011, updated March 28, 2015
Links:
[1] https://mail.momsteam.com/node/881
[2] https://mail.momsteam.com/node/2895
[3] https://mail.momsteam.com/node/289
[4] https://mail.momsteam.com/node/713
[5] https://mail.momsteam.com/quick-easy-dinners-for-families-on-the-go
[6] https://mail.momsteam.com/node/2034
[7] https://mail.momsteam.com/successful-parenting/getting-rid-of-odor-from-sneakers-and-sports-gear
[8] https://mail.momsteam.com/successful-parenting/car-pools-tips-and-tricks
[9] https://mail.momsteam.com/health-safety/first-aid-kit-in-car-and-medicine-cabinet-must-for-sports-families