You might be a sports mom if your weekends are spent at the field, gym, pool, or court, your car smells like a locker room, and your laundry basket is always full of uniforms.
I have been a sports mom for 12 years, and I still have quite a few more years ahead of me. Sports can be expensive, time-consuming, and logistically exhausting, but watching your child grow, learn new skills, make friends, and find something they love can make it all feel worth it.
Whether you are new to sports mom life or deep into the carpool, snack-packing, sideline-cheering years, there are a few things we can all relate to.
10 Things Every Sports Mom Understands
From the packed calendar to the laundry pile, sports mom life comes with its own rhythm, chaos, and joy. If you’ve spent enough weekends on the sidelines, chances are at least a few of these will sound familiar.
1. Your Kids’ Sports Schedule Takes Over
It starts innocently enough with one weeknight practice and one weekend game. Then, before you know it, you are color-coding your family calendar with multiple practices and weekend tournaments. My husband and I will sit down on Thursday night and figure out the logistics for multiple weekend games. Before COVID, we would set up carpools for practices, which was very helpful.
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2. The Costs Add Up Quickly
When you have multiple kids playing sports or kids playing higher-level sports, it can get expensive! Rec sports are a great way to try out a sport for a reasonable price. For our older kids playing on club or travel teams, we have worked with the management and lowered our costs by offering my husband’s business airline miles for coaches’ flights or by offering to help coach or coordinate certain things.
3. Dinner Becomes a Moving Target
This is a daily dilemma for me. We’ll have 2-3 practices a night during certain sports seasons, all at dinnertime. Often, I make something in the crockpot, like meatballs or Italian sausage, that can be eaten from 4 p.m. on and are still warm for the kids who are not eating until after practice at 8 p.m.
4. A Well-Stocked Car Is Essential
As a sports mom, I spend a lot of time in the car taking kids to practices, games, and away tournaments. Having a well-stocked car is vital. In my car, I have a folding chair, a beach towel or two, trash bags for wet sports bags and uniforms, paper towels, an umbrella, a portable potty, snacks, water, phone chargers, books, and something that resembles a first aid kit.
5. You Always Know Where the Bathrooms Are
As a mom who has birthed many children and now has to pee every hour, the first thing I do when I get to a field or sporting event is to assess the bathroom situation. It is also why I bring a travel potty in the car.
6. Keeping Siblings Busy Is Half the Battle
I am always thankful when there is a playground next to a practice field or gym, but it doesn’t always work out that way. I come prepared with charged iPads or Kindles for games and reading, some screen time, card games like Spot It or Uno, a soccer ball or football, and plenty of snacks.
7. Someone Is Always Missing a Uniform
There’s nothing more terrifying for a sports mom than hearing 30 minutes before you need to leave for your kid’s game, “Mom, where is my uniform, socks, cleats, etc.?” Even as an experienced mom, there are still some game days when I run around, tearing the house apart, looking for uniforms and gear.
My advice is to have a dedicated place for sports uniforms/equipment, where your child can put them after each practice. I would also like to request that every sports jersey be reversible, so we are not looking through piles of laundry for the white jersey when we know where the blue one is.
8. There Is So Much Laundry
More sports equals more laundry. Some sports (I am looking at you, baseball) require special cleaning, like keeping white pants white. Not only do you have to wash everything, but you also need to keep track of it for the next game. I have a cabinet in our laundry room dedicated to uniforms. As soon as they are clean, they go there. I also involve my older kids in washing their uniforms and making sure they lay everything out before games.
9. Game Day Emotions Are Real
Sports can bring out lots of big feelings for kids and parents. Our job is to help our kids navigate them. We do a lot of listening and validating feelings. Many years ago, my husband and I made a pact that after each game, we would only say to our kids, “I love watching you play.” Our kids are always watching us, so we make sure we are appropriate on the sidelines, supportive of both teams, and of our coaches and referees.
10. You Really Do Love Watching Them Play
I doubt any of my kids are destined for sports stardom, but I want them to love playing something. Soccer, tennis, lacrosse, violin, drama, whatever! We’ve learned over the years that they fall in and out of love with certain activities and that a 10-year-old is not a soccer player. We’re happy that they want to be active and enjoy the process of watching them grow, both as an individual and as a teammate and friend.
Sports are a microcosm of life. They learn the “thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” in what we hope is a protected environment.
Lots of teaching moments, but mostly hugs after hard days and more hugs on great days. It’s hard logistically for my family, and it’s expensive, but I wouldn’t trade the experiences my kids have had for the world.
Sports moms, what would you add to the list?
