Sports Travel
I can’t believe it’s almost October. The days are seemingly FLYING by. Like so many other parents, I am busy with work, school, and my kid’s activities. I’m a sports Mom, but I have parents in my sphere who are parents of dedicated musicians & thespians whose schedules are just as packed as ours.
We have reached our travel sports era and I am glad we waited until our kids were older to travel for sports. I cannot imagine traveling with a 9-year-old to tournaments or regular league play. But, if that’s your thing, you do you! We regularly are driving 3+ hours, staying overnight, or getting on an airplane for soccer. The kids LOVE it, thank goodness, and I’m so glad they are having these experiences but it is taxing on everyone. I do my best to keep the kids rested, hydrated, full, and having fun as much as possible.
Thus far, our longest trip was five days. M had to miss three days of school, which was a lot. Expectations were set before we left, schoolwork had to get done before hanging out with her team. Luckily, the other parents felt the same.
A few things that kept us on track:
Have a “set” schedule as much as possible. My kids do better with boundaries & routines. Don’t tell them but they do! We established what time we were waking up, going to bed, doing homework, and washing her uniforms in the hotel room. This kept her ( and me!) on track for the trip.
Snacks- seems like a no-brainer but for my Celiac kid, this is SO important. We went to Target and bought food for breakfast and snacks so I could stash them in the rental car, my purse, and in the hotel room. She was never hungry and always had safe food to eat.
Hanging out with her team- striking a balance between hanging out, resting, and getting schoolwork done is hard as a young, student-athlete. Once schoolwork was done she could hang with the girls for a few hours before resting up, having dinner, and heading to bed.
Not overscheduled- I think a lot of parents want to schedule team activities for every day of a trip. It’s too much! We planned one team meal and then the girls could hang out at the hotel. I shared a rental car with another Mom so the four of us had most of our meals together and it was perfect. No one was overstimulated!
Surprise & Delight- It happened to be my daughter’s birthday on this trip. So, I packed her present with me; small Kendra Scott soccer & basketball necklaces (and I got matching). This was a rare occurrence, but have something in your back pocket to surprise and delight your kid, if there is time. Our girls weren’t super successful in this particular tournament so had an entire afternoon free plus an extra day before we flew home. That late afternoon they were at a water park. And, then we surprised them with an impromptu trip to Disneyland. We packed everyone up, drove to Anaheim, and checked into a new hotel before heading into the park. It was perfect!
Find your people- As parents we MUST find our people on these teams otherwise it’s no fun for us either. You will be spending a lot of time with other parents on these trips; whether it’s for sports or other activities. Find those people that you can spend time with to make travel easier.
Obviously, if you are gone for a day trip it changes things. When we do those long days it looks different. Extra clothes, lots of snacks, let the kids DJ in the car, and let them sleep! Find a good spot to grab lunch or dinner and get home so everyone can sleep in their own beds.