Hydration Across Back-to-Back Games
Treat the whole tournament as one hydration problem rather than each game separately. Drink between games rather than only before them, keep drinking through the evening, and start the second day topped up rather than catching up.
Hydration across a whole day
Parents plan each game as though it starts from zero. It does not. A child who arrived slightly short and played two games in the heat is further behind by the third, and the gap is not closed in a warm-up.
CDC guidance for athletes is to drink more than usual and not wait for thirst, which is exactly the discipline a tournament day requires.
- Before you leave
Start topped up
A proper drink at home. The day's easiest fluid is the fluid drunk before it starts.
- Between games
Every gap
A drink in every gap, whether or not anyone asks. Shade and sitting down matter as much.
- The evening
Keep going
Fluid with dinner and afterwards. Milk counts and does more than water alone.
- Overnight
Start day two even
A bottle by the bed and a drink at breakfast, so day two does not open in deficit.
Between games
The gap between games is the whole opportunity. Fluid first, then food, then shade.
On a long hot day, salty food alongside the water does useful work, and a sports drink is reasonable around intense games, which is roughly where Children's Hospital Colorado places the useful case.
- A drink in the first five minutes after coming off, before anything else.
- Somewhere shaded to sit, which slows the whole problem down.
- Something salty with the water: pretzels, crackers, cheese.
- Refill bottles between every game rather than at the end of the day.
Overnight, between days
The evening between two competition days is when a deficit actually gets repaired, and it is the part most easily lost to a team dinner or a hotel pool.
Fluid with dinner, a bottle by the bed, and an early night is the whole of it.
What to pack for two days
Two days needs roughly twice the fluid and a plan for keeping the second day's supply cold.
How is the fluid being kept cold?
A cooler with ice packs
Hotel room with a freezer compartment
Buying it there
When a kid is behind and cannot catch up
A child who has drunk very little all morning, has a headache, and looks flat is not going to be fixed by a bottle in the fifteen minutes before the next game. Trying is how a bad situation becomes a medical one.
Tell the coach, keep them out of the heat, get fluid in slowly, and involve the tournament's medical staff. Sitting out a game is a much smaller cost than heat illness.
Questions about tournament hydration
How much should a kid drink at a tournament?
More than on a normal day, spread across every gap rather than in large volumes before games. Exact amounts depend on the child, the heat, and the number of games.
Are sports drinks worth it at a tournament?
More often than at a single practice. Children's Hospital Colorado places the useful case around intense exercise of 30 minutes or more, which most tournament days exceed several times over.
What if my kid will not drink between games?
Cold fluid, their own bottle, and something salty to eat alongside all help. There is a page on getting kids to drink specifically.
- Heat and Athletes, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cdc.gov.
- Hydration Tips for Preventing Heat Illness, Children's Hospital Colorado, childrenscolorado.org.
- How to Keep Young Athletes and Active Kids Safe in Hot Weather, American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org, healthychildren.org.