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Sports Mom Bag of Essentials

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If your kids play sports, make sure you have a sports mom bag of essentials with you at practices and games. Your life will be so much easier!

a mom carrying a large bag with title text reading 15 Things Every Sports Mom Needs to Carry With Her

All four of my kids participate in sports. Mostly, it’s because they love being active, and also because I make them.

Between soccer, gymnastics, wrestling, and occasionally basketball, we have sporting events to attend all year round. These events can range from a one hour recreation league soccer game to a two-day wrestling tournament.

As a result, I’ve developed a checklist of items that I consider essential for enjoying these events with less stress. It’s what I refer to as my sports mom bag of essentials.

What’s in the Sports Mom Bag of Essentials?

Below is a picture of all the things I bring to my kids’ sporting events. I pack them all in a duffel bag that I can easily sling over my shoulder. It fits a ton of stuff and is easy to pack and store.

Here’s what I put in it for our outdoor sports:

15 items that should be in a Sports Mom Bag

 

  1. Bleacher cushions: These are a MUST if you are going to be sitting for any length of time and are so lightweight there’s no reason to go without them. For soccer season, I keep the camping chairs in my trunk all season since there are no bleachers at our soccer fields.
  2. Bug repellent: My younger kids are mosquito magnets. If I don’t pack bug spray, they are covered in bites before half time.
  3. Sweat-proof sunscreen: Since my entire family uses the same sunscreen, I buy the sweat proof so that it doesn’t get washed away during the first few minutes of the game.
  4. Elastic hair bands: The ponytail holder keeping my daughter’s hair out of her face, inevitably always breaks just as the game is getting started. So, I keep several extras on our sunscreen bottle. The extra hair bands also come in handy for the days you decide to wear your hair down only to find yourself out on the windiest day of the year.
  5. Non-comodogenic sunscreen: I have two teens who break out just thinking about blemishes so I buy a facial sunscreen that doesn’t clog pores.
  6. Assortment of bandages: Major injuries during school sports are usually handled by the team medical personnel, but the minor injuries like a scratch or hangnail that gets ripped loose are easily remedied with my own supply.
  7. Anti-itch cream: In case that DEET-free insect repellent fails us or, as is usually the case in my family, someone gets a mysterious rash from something in the grass.
  8. Antiobiotic creamGoodness knows what germs are lurking around when you have teams of sweaty children running around on a field that several people have walked their dogs on. If someone in my family gets a scratch out there, it’s super easy to slather a little antibiotic ointment on it to fend off any hazardous germs.
  9. Collapsible scissorsThese are so small and thus, easy to make room for, so I always have a pair with me. These get used for everything from snipping a stray thread from a uniform, to opening snacks whose “tear here” notch is missing.
  10. Notepad and colored pens: It took me awhile to figure out that I needed these and now I can’t imagine what I did without them! Primarily, this is how I keep my other kids, who I drag along as spectators, occupied (Tic-tac-toe, Hangman, wish list, pictures). However, it also comes in handy when you decide to exchange numbers with another parent, or want to share a recipe or give/get directions.
  11. Body Armor sports drinks: There are a lot of sports drinks out there, but I like Body Armor (available at Target) because it’s all natural. It’s the only sports drink I’ve found that doesn’t contain any artificial ingredients. Gluten free, caffeine free but full of electrolytes and vitamins and my kids love them!  You can read more about their products on their website.
  12. Plastic zip seal bags: Since some of the fields we play at don’t have garbage cans nearby, I always bring some bags along to hold our garbage so we can dispose of it later. The zip seal storage bags have the added benefit of sealing securely so that your entire bag doesn’t end up smelling like garbage. They are also great for sealing sweaty clothes until you get home.
  13. Disinfecting wipes: If you’ve ever gotten a whiff of your child’s gym bag, you know they aren’t great about wiping down their equipment. That’s why I always bring along some wipes so I can do a quick disinfect before they get zipped into the dark, damp bag where germs multiply faster than rabbits.
  14. Hand sanitizer wipes: On-the-go snacks are almost always eaten with your hands so before my kids start stuffing their faces, we do a quick “wash” with a wet wipe. These are also great for cleaning sticky hands AFTER the half time snack.
  15. Assorted healthy snacks: All that exercise requires a lot of fuel so I always stock our bag with a variety of snacks that are easy to eat on the go but also provide nutrients their bodies need. Typically I include some fresh fruit along with organic fruit snacks and/or squeezable fruit/veggie pouches, trail mix, and protein and/or granola bars.

BONUS: For summer sports, I also toss in a small spray bottle filled with water and a few drops of peppermint essential oil. A few spritzes of this make you feel instantly cooler.

Even with ALL of the items listed above, I’ve got room to spare in our duffel bag for a change of clothes and extra sports gear. Here’s my full stocked sports mom bag of essentials:

Sports Mom Essential Bag Packed

It easily zips closed and as you can see, there’s plenty of room left for any other items you decide to add to your essential list.

Sports Mom Essential Bag Ready to Go

More Tips for Sports Moms

Now that you have your sports mom bag of essentials packed and ready to go, make sure you read up on how to be a great sports mom.

a family playing baseball outside with title text reading 10 Ways to be a Better Sports Mom

And next time your child’s birthday or a gift-giving holiday rolls around, get the perfect gift. Check out this gift guide for sports fanatics.

a collage of 12 sports items on a white background with title text reading Best Gifts for Sports Fans

Am I missing anything in my sports mom bag of essentials? Share your ideas and tips in the comments!

46 thoughts on “Sports Mom Bag of Essentials”

  1. I’m a couple years late posting but a warm/fuzzy/fleece qblanket for windy or cool days, one of those waterproof picnic blankets for younger kids to sit or play on (especially for outdoor soccer games), and a hat/visor.

    Reply
  2. I know this is an old post, but I loved the bag. We don’t need hair ties, but something that’s in my heart is deodorant. Someone always needs it. Oh and I also have ibuprofen.

    Reply
  3. Brilliant idea! I am thinking I could toss a park blanket and some other essentials into one of my 31 bags to make my son’s football season more pleasant for my little ones.

    Stopping by from the Pintastic linkup.

    Reply
    • A blanket is a great addition, especially if you have infants or toddlers with you. Thanks for stopping by.

      Reply
  4. Pingback: Pintastic Pinteresting Party #58 - Blessed Learners - Our Journey of Learning
  5. I think I need to take you as a model for traveling with kiddos. We often go to a family boy scout camping. I am very interested on the way you pack the children’s need. It is very need and considerably. Thank you very much for sharing.

    Reply
    • Thank you! I bet you have a lot of additional essentials for your boy scout camping trips. We load up our backpacks for camping trips with all sorts of additional items (waterproof matches, flashlights, etc.). Camping is a lot of fun if you have the right gear!

      Reply
  6. I have always loved anything strawberry banana soo that would be my favorite flavor. I havent seen this braand yet and hope to see it on sale. It looks terrific.

    Reply
  7. I have never tried any of these beverages before, so I look forward to try them all! But, I am most excited to try the strawberry banana flavor first!!

    Reply
  8. I really love this! My daughter just started playing soccer last week, and this would be such a great bundle to have at practices and games (for my daughter, and the other kiddos). Definitely pinning and sharing this. Thanks!

    Reply
  9. That’s a perfect bag! I wish I had read this when my older one was in sports. Our family had a horrible time adjusting.

    Your bag is totally perfect!

    Reply
    • I know what you mean. We had some really miserable experiences the first couple of seasons until we figured out what we ought to be bringing every time. Thank you for stopping by!

      Reply
  10. Wow! You have really thought of it all. I am glad you thought to add a notepad and colored pens. I think that is the first thing you look for and the last thing you think to pack! Great list!

    Reply
  11. Orange Mango and Lemon Lime sounds really good to me! And this is such a smart idea! I’ll be sharing on my Facebook page. 🙂

    Reply
    • Both of those are amazing flavors. Frankly, I don’t dislike any of them so you really can’t go wrong. Thank you so much for sharing this to FB!

      Reply
  12. I’m really excited to try Strawberry banana that sounds so good, but I would love to try the whole line just to be sure lol. Thank you great post.

    Reply
    • Strawberry Banana is my youngest one’s favorite. That is the only one I can really taste the coconut water in but my teen son says he doesn’t taste it at all, just strawberries and bananas. I’m a big fan of trying them all. I didn’t think I’d like the Mango Orange or the Tropical Punch but I loved them both! Thanks for stopping by. Good luck!

      Reply
  13. Mixed berry! I have medical issues that involve lack of nutrition, hypothyroidism, hypoglycemia, COPD and the list goes on. Both my husband and myself are on disability and can’t afford to buy the “healthy” foods and drinks unless we miss oit on filling our meds. Do you have any hardship programs? Thank you and good luck to all!

    Reply
    • Hi Rhonda, thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you win! I’m very sorry to hear about your health issues, especially since eating healthy is probably even more important for you because of them. I don’t have personal knowledge of any programs, but I do know that it’s possible to greatly reduce the cost of eating healthy by shopping store sales and farmer’s markets, and I save a lot on healthy products by using coupons (e.g. the $1 off 2 bottles of Body Armor drink in this post). I also like allnaturalsavings.com for healthy food coupons. I hope this helps!

      Reply
  14. I want to try the tropical punch flavor. Great minds think alike, because I keep a kit in my car ready to go similar to yours, Corinne.

    Reply

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