Being an overly athletic student at my high school, I have great knowledge of what you need to bring for a long day of sports. You may be thinking, “I know what to bring, this is not my first rodeo.” But it is quite shocking the number of people who go to wrestling tournaments or track meets completely unprepared.
There are the obvious things like your uniform and warm up suit, but have you ever thought about the little things you always have, but never remember to pack? Sure, you will obviously bring food, but have you ever thought about the five dollars your mom always hands you right before you walk out the door? Despite being only five dollars, that won’t get you anywhere, it is very crucial. What if you run out of water and need to buy some? What if you end up stopping at McDonald’s for dinner on the bus ride home? You’ll have no money on you and probably will have already eaten all your food because you didn’t realize your meet would last that long. Now you have another hour just till you get back to the school, let alone your house. Trust me, it is not a fun bus ride home when all you can smell is deliciously greasy french fries and you have a completely empty stomach with nothing to eat.
Here is a list of my top six things I always pack no matter what sort of sports event I am going to:
- An extra pair of sneakers. They don’t have to be sneakers, really whatever type of shoe you have to wear for your sport. For something like gymnastics where you go barefoot you can skip this step. Same with wrestlers, I don’t know many kids who have two pairs of wrestling shoes, as they are quite expensive. But wrestlers should pack a pair of old flip flops in case you shower at school, athlete’s foot is not fun.
- Extra cash. Like I said above, that empty stomached bus ride home is one of the worst.
- Tape. Medical tape specifically. Sure, there is usually a sports trainer there but if you are right about to go up for an event you may not have time to be taped by them, and have to do it yourself.
- Contacts. I can not stress this enough, if you wear contacts be sure to pack at least one extra pair. You never know when you are going to get something in your eye or when your contact will rip.
- Glasses. If your contact does rip your eye will be irritated for a while and won’t want another contact in there till it calms down. Maybe it’s just me, but being able to see is usually nice.
- Pillow and blanket. Bus rides home aren’t comfortable or fun, why not be warm and cuddly and take a nap?
Of course there are also the obvious things like water and food, but I hope you can remember those on your own.