Tips & Planning Guide For Your Family Tournament

Weekend tournaments are a big deal to sport families. Plan ahead to avoid pitfalls: forgotten equipment, scrambling for meals, getting lost on the way to the rink… just a few of the misfortunes that can disrupt a happy and hopeful tournament-bound family.

Here are some tips to help make for a fun, non-stress-filled tournament weekend.

To ensure that your tournament weekend goes off as a win – well, maybe not without a win, but at least you can control what you can control to make sure you have a great and fun tournament experience.

Just like going on vacation, when getting ready for the tournament, it’s important to have a checklist of what you are going to need – essentials and optional items. The checklist comes in handy on the days leading up the weekend and also afterward, when you are packing up and getting ready to leave and head home.

How many times have you returned home from a tournament and had to hit the local sporting goods store a few days later to replace forgotten hockey items? Sound familiar?

Pre-Tournament Preparation List Ideas:

• Equipment prep: Whether skate or ball wrapping, once you are at the tournament and realize you need something, you’ll be at the mercy of available time and the nearest location of sporting goods store and it may not be the quality you are used to. A tournament is not the time to be testing out unfamiliar equipment techniques, expect the worst, pack for every scenario.  

  
  

• Clearly label your equipment – At every tournament, there are millions (or at least it feels like millions) of boots, bags, sticks, and water bottles. Players are not always the most careful about keeping their equipment safe and organized in the locker room. Who can blame them? Their heads are in the game. So, before the big tournament, label everything!

Tournament Packing List Ideas:

• Water bottle – Pack a water bottle for your player. Actually, pack two or three and label them. Not only do they need to stay hydrated, but sharing water bottles is a great way to get not only them, but you entire family sick.

  
  

• Lots of clothes for your player – Remember that clothes and socks will be wet and smelly after each game and therefore not re-wearable. Also, bring a plastic bag for sealing up those dirty clothes and their accompanying aroma for the ride home. LABEL it! Or else those lucky socks may get tossed!

  
  

• Toiletries – Toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, backup deodorant, etc. These may seem obvious but are the most likely to be overlooked in the mad rush out of the house on the way to the tournament.

  
  

• Hitting the hotel swimming pool – During the tournament, the players are going to have much needed, but limited, downtime. Usually, the hotel pool has an abundance of towels. But if that hotel is in a hockey tournament town, it is highly likely that they will run out of pool towels. So, when packing swimsuits, don’t forget to pack towels for the pool.

  
  

• Heading to/from the pool – For getting back and forth to the pool with their friends, pack sliders. You don’t want everyone walking with wet feet through the hotel lobby. One small slip could cause a broken arm or rolled ankle and missing the tournament entirely. Flip flops also come in handy for the shower at the arena.

  
  

• Fun stuff for downtime fun – Although downtime is limited, there is always some over the course of the tournament weekend, so bring some fun stuff: gaming console or handheld, headphones, a deck of cards, etc.

  

• BYOS (Bring Your Own Snacks) – For before/after the game and back at the hotel room in the evenings, you want to bring a ton of snacks and drinks so you are not paying steep hotel prices.

  
  

• BYOB (Bring Your Own Breakfast) – If there are a lot of hockey families staying at your hotel, expect breakfast to be a zoo. So, avoid the lines and pack breakfast: cereal, cereal bars, fruit, oatmeal, milk, juice, bagels and cream cheese, etc. Check with your hotel to see if your room has a mini fridge, microwave, and coffee maker (and coffee).

  
  

• When you are running around all weekend, it’s easy to let eating right fall by the wayside and grabbing takeout can get pricey. Planning ahead and working meals into your schedule is a great way to stay on track!  Packing a cooler with precooked sausages, sandwiches, lunchmeat, and macaroni salad is a great way to eat healthy and save on expenses.

  
  

A few more helpful ideas

• Map it out – Make sure you know where the arenas are located and how long it takes to drive there. Also, check out where the nearest coffee shops and grocery stores are so that you can plan your stop on the way to the game and back to the hotel. You can also scope out sit down restaurants and maybe even make reservations and plan a team dinner.

  
  

• Know the tournament schedule – Tournament weekends are not the time to fly by the seat of your pants. Know the complete tournament schedule and make sure that you plan other necessities around it. You’d be surprised how quickly eating, sleeping and showering become non-essential when you are living the tournament weekend lifestyle.

With a little preparation, planning and a hockey tournament checklist, your next hockey tournament weekend can be a relatively pleasant experience. This lets your hockey player focus on the games instead of how hungry they are or where they put their hockey socks. It also lets you relax and enjoy the games and appreciate the sport even more.

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