What to Pack for a Travel Lacrosse Tournament
Your kid made a travel team. Amazing. Now you get to spend your weekends in a folding chair at a sports complex the size of a small country, watching fields change on you in real time. You’re going to love it. But first you need to figure out what to bring, because showing up unprepared to a travel lacrosse tournament is its own kind of suffering.
I’ve done this enough times now that packing is basically muscle memory. Here’s everything that actually matters.
First Things First: Car or Plane?
This changes everything. If you’re driving, and especially if you have a van or a big SUV, you can bring a lot. Bring it all. If you’re flying you’re going to have to get creative, and we’ll cover that at the end.
My kid plays goalie, so we’re already starting from a disadvantage in the “packing light” category. A goalie kit is basically its own checked bag. If your kid plays field, honestly, you have no excuses.
The Gear Bag
Before anything else, make sure your kid’s bag is actually packed. Check it yourself. Not because your kid is irresponsible, but because you are the one standing at the field when they say “I forgot my mouthguard” and you need that to not happen.
- Full uniform, top and bottoms, plus a backup shooter shirt
- Helmet, pads, gloves, cleats
- Mouthguard. Pack two. They will lose one.
- Stick. Yes, someone has forgotten their stick.
- Goalies: full kit, throat guard, extra zip ties and cord for the throat guard because that thing will fail you at the worst possible moment
The Wagon
I cannot stress this enough. Get a collapsible wagon before your first tournament and never show up without one again. Big tournaments have 20 or more fields spread across what feels like a small municipality. You will park, you will get a text that the field changed, and that new field will be on the complete opposite side of the complex. The wagon carries chairs, coolers, gear bags, younger siblings, and anything else you’d otherwise be making three trips for. It is the single best purchase I’ve made as a lacrosse parent and it’s not close.
Cold Weather Gear
Lacrosse season exists in two temperatures: cold and “why is it this hot in April.” Let’s do cold first.
You will be at an outdoor tournament in weather that has no business hosting a sporting event. Pack accordingly:
- A real insulated chair or a heated seat cushion. My wife has one of the electric heated ones. We don’t take it out often, but when we do, she’s the most popular person on the sideline.
- Hand warmers. Buy a whole box at the start of the season. We go through them and we’re not even in a lacrosse hotbed.
- Heavy parkas, extra blankets. If you can find an army surplus poncho liner, also called a woobie, get one for everyone in your family. They work in every weather condition and weigh nothing.
- For your kid: compression tights under their gear to break the chill, then sweatpants, a hoodie, hat and gloves for when they come off the field still sweaty and start freezing immediately.
Bring a thermos of coffee. This is not optional.
Hot Weather Gear
On the other end, summer tournaments will try to cook you. Here’s what helps:
- Cooling towels. Throw them in the cooler before the games start. Your kid will think you’re a genius.
- A battery-powered misting fan. There’s always one parent on the team who shows up with a Dewalt or Ryobi bucket fan setup and everyone slowly migrates toward them. Be that parent.
- Extra clothes for yourself. Shorts, t-shirt, flip flops. You are going to sweat through what you’re wearing by 10am and you still have two more games to go.
The Cooler Setup
This is where I get specific, but I’ve earned it.
Backpack cooler. This is my daily driver. Front pocket has scissors, extra tape, eye black and removal wipes. Main compartment keeps drinks cold. It goes to practices, it goes to tournaments, it lives in my car. Just get one.
Rolling team cooler. Most teams run a snack signup through SignUpGenius or something similar before each tournament weekend. If you’re bringing the team cooler, it needs wheels. I don’t care how strong you are, you are not dragging a 60-quart cooler across a lacrosse complex all weekend.
Pro tip on ice: fill the cooler the night before using the hotel ice machine. Do it late, before everyone else tries to do it morning of and the machine is empty or running on fumes. I bring an ice mule bag, which is a big rubberized shoulder bag made for hauling ice. I fold it inside my backpack cooler on the way there, fill it at the hotel the night before, and dump it in the rolling cooler before anyone else is even awake. Sounds like a lot of steps the first time. You’ll do it on autopilot by tournament three.
Water bottles. I bring three STX lacrosse water bottles with the long squeeze straw. Your kid can drink without taking their helmet off, which matters a lot when your kid is a goalie. Fill them with ice at the hotel, add water when you get to the field, keep them in the backpack cooler between games. They stay cold all day.
Hotel Stuff
A few things nobody puts in the packing guide:
Decide before you book whether you want to stay with the team. The team hotel is fun and the kids bond, but it is also loud, there are kids running the hallways until 11pm, and if your first game is at 8am Saturday, that math doesn’t work great. Some families love it. We’ve done both. Just know what you’re signing up for.
Stinky gear stays in the car. You know which gear I mean. Bring the sticks inside though, especially in cold weather. A stick that spent the night in a freezing car is much more likely to snap the next day.
Don’t let the kids run wild in the hotel. I know it’s fun. Other guests are paying to sleep there and your kid has three games tomorrow. Find the balance.
If You’re Flying
You’re not bringing the wagon. You’re not bringing the rolling cooler. Pare it down:
- Backpack cooler packs flat in your suitcase
- Ice mule bag folds up and comes with you
- Take heads off and carry them on
- Sticks either get checked in a travel tube , ski bag, equipment bag, pvc tube, etc.
- Goalie heads fit in a padded rifle case, two heads and two shafts, check it and you’re done.
- Long poles are a pain. Again, carry on heads and find something big enough to put the stick in - ski bags, etc. Some airlines allow the stick to check with the equipment bag - check with the airline before hand on how to handle it.
Some families just buy cheap stuff when they land and leave it there. Styrofoam cooler, folding chairs from a gas station, abandoned at the hotel checkout. It is a little wasteful and also completely understandable.
The Short Version
Get a wagon. Sort out your cooler situation. Pack the gear bag the night before and check it yourself. Everything else is details.
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