Super Sports Stuff and Team Spirit!

All of my kids are on a sports team right now. Our sports this season (and it varies every season for us) are Volleyball, Soccer, and Kickball.

There are so many fun things to do for the team, to get some team spirit going.
Hair bands in the teams colors!
These hairbands are so easy to make. Cut material to the length that you want (anything from 4 inches to 10 inches if you want really long ones). You can use material, ribbons, ric rac or whatever strikes your fancy. Just tie each piece around a hair elastic! Do up enough for the whole team! On my younger child's team many kids even had 2 so that they could wear piggy tails with them in them!
Pennants with each kids name on them, and of course in the team's colors. We had ones made up for us that were embroidered with a gorgeous fill. However, this could just as easily be done by sewing, gluing, or ironing felt or material letters on! These pennants just had a long pocket along the side of the triangle for a dowel to slide into. All of the parents would hold these while they cheered their child on. The kids would all hold their own, while they were on the sidelines! ;)
Fun snacks
For the snacks "Soccer Moms" are getting quite creative. We find that they are holding them all in cute baskets for the kids to take them out of. They are putting together themed snacks, as well. One of our team's name was Zoo. So, animals crackers were quite a hit! For Easter each kid got a ziplock baggie holding their snack. They had an Easter Napkin, Debbie Snack Cakes that were Easter Eggs, and some candy in a plastic Easter Egg! Another Mom makes sure to have diaper wipes for each child, along with the oranges at half time. Packaging the snack and drink together with a ribbon is an easy way for each kid to just have to grab one "package". Make sure that the ribbon is the team's colors! It's very easy to think of things to go along with team names, too.

I have blankets (actually afghans) made in my school's colors. My Mother crocheted these for me when I was in High School. They were perfect for those long Track meets that tended to get cold at the end of the night, and for soccer which was in the Winter season! She even made one of these for my coaches! Way cool, right?!
They are so beautiful. They are 15 years old and still look great! Which is shocking because EVERYONE used them! I remember them being such a hit, and I loved that my Mom made them for me!

Coach Thank You Gift!

For the soccer team, we had a soccer ball that was passed around to all of the kids on the team to sign and write their jersey # on it. The coaches thought it was fantastic!

You can make up a coach survival Kit

It could include the following:
Marbles-to replace the ones you lost during the season
M and M's-to remind you that you are "M"agnificent and "M"arvelous
Stick of Gum-Cause you stuck with it
Paper Clip-you held it all together
Lollipop-you licked all the problems
Mounds Bar-for the mounds of confidence you gave the kids on the team
Hugs & Kisses-to tell you that we/the teams care about you
Snickers Bar-to remind you to just laugh at all the referees bad calls style
Popcorn-You were always "popping up" new ideas to help us play our very best!
Nuts-Whenever things were "nuts", you kept us all focused and guided us when we didn't understand. Know that we are "nuts" about you!
Pretzels-You taught us to "stick" to our opponents and to "knot" (not) get discouraged, but to keep practicing and keep on trying!
Balls-You gave us a "well-rounded" grasp of the fundamentals, and while we have more to learn, we had a "ball" on the team!
Hugs & Kisses - to remind you that you are appreciated

I think coaches also really appreciate when the whole team goes in on a gift card. Their are so many great options in gift cards-a VISA, to use as straight up cash, movies, dinner, Starbucks, etc.

Although, most of all make sure to give them a card expressing your appreciation to them. I know we had some really awesome coaches this time for each of my kids' teams!

Rebecca