Preparation for Spring Sports

This weekend starts it all....the first softball tournament, the first baseball games, the first lacrosse games.  Our family schedule takes coordination and a divide-and-conquer approach, but the main thing we need to do to survive is PREPARE.  Game day stress intensifies and tempers flare when we cannot find things right before game time.  (Yup, that 3 minutes before we walk out the door has been known to be pretty ugly around here at times.)  

This year, I am trying to be pro-active and be ready.  Here are my best tips:  

• Get all uniforms out the day before....not night before, day before.  That way, if a piece is still dirty from an earlier game or missing in the trunk, it can be tracked down early.  Make sure you have the layers you might need for colder weather.
•  CLEATS by the bag....I have watched too many parents have to travel back home for forgotten cleats.  (Sometimes, just one cleat was forgotten...that always amazes me!)
•    Have your child check equipment bags to make sure it is all there.  Make sure to check all equipment for loose strings or missing pieces. Check that your child really checked J
•    Put water  bottles out by the equipment bag ready to be filled in the morning with ice-water.  I HATE spending money on water bottles at games.  Bring a reusable water bottle with you.  (As a matter of fact, keep an extra in the car for when it is forgotten.)  It is amazing how much $ you can save if you don't buy water bottles at sporting events, plus you’re being eco-friendly!
•  Pack an “Everything I could Possibly Need” bag.  This is not so much a necessity for a baseball game or a lacrosse game, but for spending all day at the softball field, this can save your life!  I will post later what goes in my “Everything I Could Possibly Need” bag.
• Food shopping.  Make sure lunch is prepped and you know what dinner will be and have it ready to avoid picking up quick junk food. 
• Sunscreen…hard to imagine after this crazy winter we had in the northeast, but we may need sunscreen already!
• Charge your camera battery and make sure you have your memory card.  You don’t want to miss a big moment.  (Although ask my daughter about her homerun during the first at-bat of her game where I missed taking pictures of because I was putting on sunscreen…she has quite a tale to share!)  But at least if you have the camera there and ready, you might capture the big moment!

What tips can you offer to other busy moms of athletes?  What's on your pre-game day checklist that I have forgotten?