You’ve signed your kid up for soccer, but now what? Here are all the soccer mom essentials you need to rock your new life as a soccer mom.
Congratulations! You’ve officially joined the ranks of soccer moms across the United States.
Soccer truly is a great sport for kids to play. It’s a fantastic way to introduce children to the benefits of sports. They can learn practical lessons about team work, social interaction, responsibility and work ethic. Additionally, they gain more self-confidence, drive and focus as they work hard to improve. Plus, it’s a whole lot of fun!
My oldest son started playing soccer just after he turned 4. Every Saturday, he’d put on his XS soccer jersey that completely covered his shorts, and off we’d go to his game. At that age, soccer is really just a clump of little soccer players following the ball around the field. Honestly, it’s adorable.
Now, I have two little soccer players at my house with two more to add in the coming years. Having spend many a Saturday out on the soccer field myself, both as a player growing up and now as a soccer mom, I wanted to share my top soccer mom essentials.
When you hear the phrase “soccer mom essentials,” I know, your first thought is:Can you be a real soccer mom if you don’t own a minivan?Of course you can! I don’t care you if drive a Honda Odyssey or a Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk, being a soccer mom is about way more than what you drive.
Really, I just wanted to share with you some advice as well as some of my favorite products. While some of my soccer mom essentials are strictly soccer necessities, many of these soccer mom essentials actually apply to more than just soccer moms. They can be just as useful for any mom who has to sit through her child’s sport.
So scroll on down to learn all about the soccer mom essentials you need as a new soccer mom.
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Soccer Mom Essentials: The Basics
Soccer Ball
I guess the best place to start with soccer mom essentials is the soccer ball itself. Did you know soccer balls come in different sizes? This is one big question for new soccer parents. Be sure to check with your child’s league to see what size they are required to use, but here is a general guide.
Size 1 (souvenir): A Size 1 soccer balls typically serve as souvenirs.
Size 2 (under 3): A Size 2 ball is generally just used for toddlers to play with.
Size 3 (under 8): Most children will use a size 3 soccer ball when they start playing.
Size 4 (8-12 years): In later elementary school, children will transition to a size 4 soccer ball.
Size 5 (12 years +): By age 12, children usually switch to a full-size soccer ball which they will use from now on.
Shinguards
Personally, I wear the Nike Mercurial Lite shinguards where the shinguard slips into a sleeve you wear around your calves. It’s terribly convenient to take them on and off. For little kids, however, I much prefer shinguards that also protect the ankle. Because with little kids soccer, they are very liable to get kicked accidentally by another player. When choosing shinguards, make sure you get ones sized correctly for your child’s height. And your shinguard is required to go under and be completely covered by athletic socks when you play.
Soccer Cleats
While your child can wear regular tennis shoes when playing, for better traction, players should wear soccer cleats instead. The main thing to remember is that soccer cleats are different from other sport cleats. They don’t have spikes and don’t have a cleat in the front of the foot. You are allowed to wear soccer cleats in most any other sport, but you can’t wear football, baseball or lacrosse cleats in soccer. Trust me, you need to have the right type of cleat. I have a scar on my leg from a girl who wore the wrong kind cleats at soccer practice.
Water Bottle
You don’t really need to go fancy here. My kids all have their own water bottles at home, so that’s usually what they bring. My little boy even has a darling soccer ball Camelbak water bottle. Though I generally use whatever free water bottle I get from my last bike event. Soccer involves a lot of running, so make sure to keep your little one hydrated. Water is much better to drink during a game. Gatorade should only be used for post-game recovery.
Sport Sunblock
No one wants to think of their kid getting skin cancer, so always put sunblock on your child. Normally, this would be a great place to recommend a product, but honestly, I haven’t fallen in love with any yet. So if you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know in the comments. Just make sure to put sunblock on your child for every game and practice.
Related: The Importance of Setting Smart Fitness Goals
Soccer Mom Essentials: Practice
Pop-Up Goal
If you want your budding soccer star to practice at home, a pop-up goal is definitely one of the top soccer mom essentials to have. Sometimes, I’ll even set up my pop-up goal in the living room and let my kids play with small-sized soccer balls. (Remember, my kids are still rather little.) The most important feature is how easy they are to fold. I love the Pugg soccer goals I have. They are much easier to fold than others I’ve used. If you have young children and just plan to use them at home, I would stick to the 4 foot option.
Soccer Handbook
The thing with any kids recreational league is that they are always looking for volunteers to coach. Even if you get out of coaching, sometimes the parent who does coach doesn’t know a thing about soccer. Whether you want to teach dribbling or learn some soccer thrown in drills, Soccer Source 360 has some great manuals that they give out free to coaches. You can also scour Youtube for videos teaching specific concepts.
Hairbows
Now that my daughter plays soccer, I’m realizing one of her favorite parts is having me (attempt to) do her hair. I am terrible at doing my own hair, and my daughter’s super fine hair always makes it so much harder. But it’s all about the bows. Check out this darling soccer themed hair bow. Because you’ll want her to look cute in pictures, even if she is just picking dandelions on the field.
Related: Four Tips for Your First Time at the Gym
Soccer Mom Essentials: Game Day
Folding Chair
The staple of any sports mom, a folding chair is simply a must. I bring a chair for every adult and for each kid attending the game. Since my munchkins are little, I even bring one for my little soccer player since they get to sit with me when they aren’t playing in the game. I have the Ozark Trail kids chairs from Walmart for my kids. I just love that they come in fun little patterns. You can find kids camping chairs anywhere. Though I saw this Kelty loveseat chair at the store the other day and I think it looks awesome.
Sport-Brella
My mom bought this for me last year and it is so cool. We used to bring regular umbrellas to the games to get some shade, but with the Sport-Brella Extra Large Umbrella we can shade the whole family easily. And it pack ups much smaller than most of the canopies people bring. The flaps roll up and down to give more or less coverage. It’s also great for the beach or the splashpad.
Cooler
For tournament weekends or back-to-back games, it can be nice to brings some extra snacks to munch on. We have this 6 can cooler that we use all the time for road trips. It’s a great size to fit some items, but lightweight so you don’t feel like you are lugging around your whole kitchen. For large quantities, I would get a full size cooler with the thick sides.
Camera
While I love taking pictures on my smartphone, for sports nothing really beats having a DSLR camera. I just have an entry-level Nikon DSLR camera, and I love it! As long as you have a proper memory card with a high transfer speed. It takes pictures so fast compared to my old point and click. Once you have a manual zoom, you’ll never want to go back.
Wagon
I know I’ve listed about a million things as essentials, but how to you carry it all? A wagon is my favorite new addition to my soccer collection. I have the Mac Sports collapsible folding utility wagon, and it’s a life saver. Be warned, it’s not actually intended to haul children since it doesn’t have brakes or seatbelts, so do so at your own risk. But you can haul so much stuff to and from your car! I use it all the time because any activity with kids seems to involve a lot of stuff.
Are you a soccer mom? What are your soccer mom essentials?
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