How do you Manage Kids Sports Schedules?

Can it feel like the sports schedule manages you sometimes? Seeing our kids love a sport, a game and a team is a great feeling, but all of the behind-the-scenes parent management of keeping up with the schedule can be a lot. As Ashley puts it, "Managing kids’ sports schedules might be my unofficial side hustle." And, as Rebecca notes, "What always gets me is the 'math' involved in driving to the location, plus buffer times required by coaches before games, plus eating time, getting dressed, finding equipment, and filling water bottles. That mental load can be overwhelming." But, as 6 moms of 18 kids, we have learned a few tricks along the way that simplify the chaos - a little bit. Read on to hear how we leverage syncing calendars and carpools while also juggling communication with co-parents, grandparents and our village of fellow teammates' parents.

Rebecca, Woman's Leadership Coach from @PleasantlyAggressive

I'm incredibly grateful for apps like GameChanger and Team Snap that allow you to subscribe to the calendar for the team. All changes, cancellations, and updates automatically populate into my calendar, so I don't have to think much about practice and game times.

What always gets me is the “math” involved in driving to the location, plus buffer times required by coaches before games, plus eating time, getting dressed, finding equipment, and filling water bottles. That mental load can be overwhelming. Not to mention things like when they forget to take their equipment out of my car and then dad takes them to practice the next day, and I’m 30 minutes away at a work function.

My kids are teenagers, so we level most of the responsibility on them to remember when and where they are supposed to be. One of them drives, which freed up significant time in our schedule! I actually miss driving him to practice and the 15-30 minutes we'd get in the car together or carpooling with other kids. 🙁

With only two kids, we can almost always divide and conquer, especially when it comes to being present for games or tournaments. I travel a lot for work, and I do my best to get flights home in time to catch even ½ of a game. We're really honest with our kids about our work or other obligations. We want them to know our first choice is always to see them!

Ashley, Millennial Mom Nutrition Coach from @AshleyBreaksTheCycle

Managing kids’ sports schedules might be my unofficial side hustle. At any given time (except summer), we've got anywhere from six to nine teams going...hockey, soccer, flag football, you name it.

The second schedules come out — which for hockey parents means usually a week before the season starts — I sit down with my laptop and phone and enter every single game and practice. Thankfully, some of the team apps now let you sync calendars directly to your phone, which saves a ton of time.

The tricky part? Communicating all of this to my husband, who’s not exactly tech-savvy. I send daily reminders, sometimes three to five times a day, about who needs to be where and when. We've tried paper calendars, group texts, even whiteboards — none of them stick. Everything lives on my phone now.

I also send the grandparents a list of weekend games so they can come cheer when they want (no pressure, of course!).

It’s a full-time job keeping it all straight, but honestly — I wouldn't trade it. Watching my kids do what they love is worth the chaos. And thank God for calendar syncs and color-coded apps, or I’d never survive.

Emilee, Book Aficionado from @The BookClubCart

I have 3 kids; ages 7-12, and we have 2 or more activities after school every night Monday through Friday. Currently between the 3 of them; we have 2 dance classes, 5 soccer teams, Girl Scouts, tae kwon do, basketball started for my oldest, and middle school sports are about to begin. Throw in some homework and friends coming over…and our weeks are packed. Don’t get me started on the weekends.

I will admit, our schedule is crazy. We truly have to take it week-by-week. We assess the weekend ahead to see what games we can make and what we have to skip if anything overlaps. We don't have family around to help, so it is my husband and I shuttling our kids to everything.

My husband coaches my kids in soccer and basketball (minus a few club teams and dance), which is so wonderful for our children but it is a big investment of our time. However, him coaching is such a special gift to our kids, I wouldn't want it any other way.

We keep all sports schedules on my husband’s calendar (Yup! He manages it all!). We talk throughout the week. Practices are consistent Mon-Fri so that helps. Weekends vary with game times. Also big shoutout to sports apps like TeamSnap that keep us updated with club team schedules.

I think if we relied on grandparents to help we would have shared calendars with them, but because it is just my husband and I, we keep things more simplified in how we organize schedules. Also grace, lots of grace. We have 3 kids and it is just the 2 of us; we do the best we can.

Ali, Book Aficionado from @The BookClubCart

Honestly, our family wouldn’t survive this season without our amazing community. Carpools are the real MVP! Between practices, games, and overlapping schedules, coordinating rides with other families has been a total lifesaver.

My husband coaches multiple teams that our kids play on, which is such a blessing — but it definitely adds another layer of chaos. To keep everything straight, I rely heavily on my planner to map out practices, games, and carpool rotations. Meanwhile, my husband channels his inner coach and creates a detailed Excel spreadsheet so we can both double-check who’s going where (and when!) each week.

It’s not always seamless, but teamwork — both on and off the field — really is the key to keeping it all together.

Kim, Home Connoisseur from @Reverie.and.Root & Founder of Spilling Goodness

When my kids were little, I still remember a mom of older kids telling me to "enjoy the time, because you'll become an Uber driver someday." Well, that day is here! With kiddos that love soccer, flag football, basketball, gymnastics and ultimate ninjas, our afternoons go from school to sport to sport with dinner mixed in there somewhere. How do we manage this fun sports schedule- well, there have been a few saving graces over the years.

Carpools - and a strong village! We even have a carpool spreadsheet that is pure magic. Add your kid to a car in a google sheet, sign up to drive a car- shared with parents of kids in the carpool and everyone knows who needs a ride and who is driving. I'll include a link to the google sheet in the calendar invite for my fam, so my kids can check the sheet to see who is picking them up. It saves a bunch of texts and simplifies life - my favorite! Here is an example.

Syncing calendars - if you can subscribe to the team calendar it saves a ton of time updating events. If the color of the jersey changes, that is updated on the calendar. And, as soon as my kids are old enough (13 for most apps), I get them access to the app. After all, this is good training for life management and their smart phones should simplify life - mine included! Every Sunday, I look out to the week ahead and make sure we're covered. And, if not, that is when I call in the reserves - my mom!

Daily check-ins - apps, google sheets, digital calendars are great and all, but nothing compares to the daily touch base. "Remember, you have soccer today - are you socks clean?" I'll be at ultimate ninjas with your brother when your ride comes, so make sure you have something to eat before practice and then we'll have dinner when you get home. " (I'll save the double dinner conundrum for another day!) There is a lot of coming and going, but it all works and I love seeing my kids excited about a team and sport they love.

Jen, Bespoke Travel Designer from @GlobalonDemandTravel

We travel to Florida, Texas, California and in coming years internationally for soccer. Then, sprinkle in some AAU basketball, flag football, swim meets, cross country, piano, guitar and tennis and having a color coded calendar that auto populates updates from all the apps is the only way we make it. All the apps! I have also limited the kids to two sports per season. At one time by son had 4 different sports in the same day, and that had to come to an end once the travel increased and 3rd kid got into his own activities.

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How do you manage kids sports schedules?