Last Updated on December 5, 2025 by The Smetz Files
I’m a mom to two active kids in youth sports. Here are the things I kept reaching for this year!
My teen and tween have us going in a million directions these days. Between middle school sports seasons, travel ball, and multiple practices, some days we’re hanging on by a thread!
No complaints here, we love living that youth sports lifestyle!
But, we do need a few tricks to keep the chaos manageable.
Here’s my round up of the top five items I keep reaching for when it comes to cheering on our favorite young athletes!
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Stay Connected
Now that my sporty sibs are getting older more travel is becoming the norm. This often means we deploy the divide and conquer strategy on tournament weekends.
For parents needing to stay connected to work and their businesses, we found this travel dual monitor set up to be perfect for hotels and roadtrips!
Connect it to your laptop and voila, instant office setup. This was especially helpful during our week in Cooperstown this summer. We could easily catch work meetings around the game schedule.
While you’re staying connected, add this charging station to your travel sports mom bag. This has proven to be a game saver in hotels where chargers are few and not always in optimal locations. It has several ports, so you can charge every device you have in one spot.
Pro tip: label each charger so there is no confusion as to whose charger it is. This will save you arguments and headaches…trust me!
Naturally you want to stay connected while you’re at the field. If you’re dividing and conquering like us, you’re probably watching one kid play live while following the other kid’s game via online streaming apps. So, throw this charging block in your back and never miss a single moment! I like this one because the cable is attached, so it’s one less thing to worry about remembering to pack.
My weekend packing list is linked here!
Keeping it Simple
It feels like we take everything but the kitchen sink to most weekend tournaments. So, typically my double wagon is overflowing.
These little handwarmers pack a lot of heat and keep the cold at bay during those early morning and late night games. I keep them charged for taking the dog on walks. I’ve also gifted them to my uncle who golfs, our friend who is a soccer ref, and shared them with the tech at the car dealership who works in the garage all winter. Yep, they’re that good!
If your seasons include a lot of time outside in the cold, read this post to see how I stay cozy year round!
Finally, I like to be as hands free as possible, yet have the essential items easily accessible while we’re at games. Remember how I said I tend to overpack the double wagon?!
Throughout the day, as stuff gets shuffled and pushed around in the wagon I like wearing my Lulu belt bag to keep keys, wallet, phone, chargers, and chapstick ready to grab in a moment’s notice.
It’s easy to wear to post game dinners with teammates without carrying in a huge bag and rifling through to find my wallet. These dupes on Amazon are great and come in a lot of colors, so I can match their team colors.
Sports moms, what are your must have items for the sidelines? Let me know in the comments!
To see all my must haves, click here to visit my Tap to Shop lists.
