The Travel Tournament Packing Checklist (From Parents Who've Forgotten Everything Once)
The checklist we wish someone had handed us before our first away weekend, organized by where you'll actually need things: the car, the field, the hotel, and the bathroom.
In this post
Every travel sports family has a "the time we forgot" story. The cleats left on the porch. The second uniform still in the dryer. The 7:40 a.m. game three towns over where the only bathroom turned out to be a padlocked shed.
We've been there. So here's the travel tournament packing checklist we actually use, broken down by where you'll need each thing. Print it, screenshot it, or tape it to the inside of the garage door.
The night before: the five-minute check
Most forgotten items get forgotten at 6 a.m., not at 9 p.m. Do this the night before and the morning gets easy.
- Both uniforms (home and away), washed and in one bag
- Cleats, glove, helmet, bat or stick, plus a backup pair of socks
- Schedule and field addresses saved offline on your phone
- Phone chargers and a car charger
- Cash for parking, concessions and the 50/50 raffle
- The bathroom situation at every field. Look up each venue on the Sportopotty map and check the 💩 rating, the TP Index and whether the restrooms are usually locked. Thirty seconds now saves a lot of pacing later.
The car kit: your travel tournament packing checklist starts here
Think of the car as base camp. Anything you might need between games lives here.
- Folding chairs and a pop-up canopy (check the venue rules first)
- A wagon if the walk from the lot is long
- Blankets for early spring mornings that turn into 80-degree afternoons
- Sunscreen, bug spray, a small first aid kit and an instant cold pack
- Trash bags (you'll leave the sideline cleaner than you found it)
- A sideline bathroom kit. We gave this its own post because it deserves one: what's in our sideline bathroom kit.
The field bag
This is what comes to the bleachers with you.
- Water bottles for everyone, refilled between games
- Snacks that won't melt (more on that in our tournament snack and hydration guide)
- Hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol, which is the level the CDC recommends when soap and water aren't around
- A small pack of tissues or a travel roll of toilet paper
- Rain ponchos that fold flat
- A phone battery pack
The cooler
A good cooler setup is the difference between a real lunch and a $14 concession-stand hot dog. We wrote a whole guide on how to pack a cooler that lasts all tournament weekend, but the short version is: pre-chill everything, keep drinks in a separate cooler from food, and keep it in the shade.
The hotel bag
If it's an overnight trip, pack this bag separately so you're not digging through gear at 11 p.m.
- Pajamas, toiletries and tomorrow's clothes on top
- A laundry bag for dirty uniforms (your car will thank you)
- Slides or flip-flops for the hotel pool
- A white noise app or small fan for the kid who can't sleep in a new room
Booking a "stay-to-play" event this season? Read our plain-English guide to stay-to-play hotels before you reserve.
The bathroom you haven't seen yet
Here's the part nobody puts on the official team checklist. Fields vary wildly. Some complexes have clean, stocked, heated restrooms. Others have one portable toilet serving four diamonds and a snack bar.
You can find out which kind you're walking into. Search the town on our bathroom directory, or browse every rated field in Connecticut. If the field isn't rated yet, you'll be the hero who adds it.
Frequently asked questions
What should I pack for a youth sports tournament weekend? Pack in four groups: the car (chairs, canopy, first aid, trash bags), the field bag (water, snacks, sanitizer, tissues, ponchos), the cooler (food and drinks kept below 40°F), and the hotel bag (pajamas, toiletries, laundry bag). Add a sideline bathroom kit if you don't know the facilities.
How do I know if a tournament field has bathrooms? Look the venue up on Sportopotty before you leave. Parents rate each field's restrooms on a 0 to 5 💩 scale, where 0 is the cleanest and 5 is the dirtiest, and note toilet paper, locks and running water.
What do parents forget most at travel tournaments? Second uniforms, phone chargers, cash for parking and concessions, and a plan for the bathroom. The night-before check above covers all four.
One last thing
Every field rating on Sportopotty comes from a parent who stood in the same parking lot you're about to stand in. When you get there, take ten seconds and rate the bathroom. The next family will be grateful, and so will you, the next time you go somewhere new.
Know Before You Go.
