The Sports Parent's Second Shift

If you're a sports parent, you probably know this evening. Work ends, the car becomes a locker room on wheels, and dinner is whatever can be eaten between one parking lot and the next. Nobody planned it that way. It's just what a busy week with an active kid looks like.

The research suggests it isn't your imagination, and it isn't a sign you're doing something wrong. It's a lot of work, and it deserves to be said out loud.

The time: more than three hours a day

The Aspen Institute's Project Play surveyed 1,848 youth sports parents across the U.S. in late 2024, in partnership with Utah State University and Louisiana Tech University. The average sports parent spends 3 hours and 23 minutes every day their child has a practice or game. That counts driving, watching, washing uniforms, packing gear, making meals, and talking with coaches and other parents.

One of the study's co-authors, Travis Dorsch of Utah State, described it as "a second or third shift in many cases." It's a fair description of what many families already feel.

The meals: on the fly

When the schedule is tight, food is usually the first thing to flex. In the same survey, 56% of sports parents said they eat out two to four meals a week because of their child's sports schedule. And 36% said they believe their family's sports commitment contributes to unhealthy eating habits.

That's not a character flaw. It's what happens when practice ends at 7:30 and everyone is hungry at 6:00.

The volunteering: parents are the staff

62% of youth sports parents said they volunteer with their child's team or club, averaging more than four hours a week. Coaching is one of those jobs, but slightly more parents helped with tickets or concessions than coached.

The coaching part is where things are getting tight. The Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) reports that the number of current youth coaches fell 19% from 2022 to 2025, a third straight annual decline, while the number of participants ages 6 to 14 rose 5%. In SFIA's numbers, that works out to about 2.5 young players per coach in 2022 and about 3.2 in 2025.

Put plainly: more kids are playing, and there are fewer people coaching them. Rec leagues run largely on parents who say yes when someone asks, "Can anyone help?" If you're one of them, thank you.

A fair note

None of this means families are unhappy with youth sports. In the same Aspen survey, 69% of sports parents said they were satisfied with the sports culture in the U.S. The point isn't that youth sports is too much. It's that the people holding the whole thing together could use a little help.

What actually helps

There's no single fix, and every family is different. A few ideas that tend to make the week lighter:

• Combine stops where you can. If two kids play on the same night, look for leagues or open-play times that put them in the same place.
• Make the wait useful. A table, a meal and a chair beat a cold parking lot. Some parents get their own work done, some catch their breath, and some just watch.
• Share the load. Carpools, a team snack rotation and a shared text thread all give someone else a turn.
• Say yes to one small job. Coaches often need an assistant, not a hero. An hour a week can keep a rec team alive.
• Ask your league about the schedule. Most leagues want to hear what works for working families.

One roof, a few different options

Community Fieldhouse doesn't run its own youth programs. What we do is host the people who do. On any given week, our courts and fields hold select teams, rec leagues, private team practices and open play where kids just show up and play. Local leagues rent our space, and families can choose what fits.

We also have a dining room and a bar in the same building. A parent can sit down with a real meal while a practice runs, and a sibling can wait somewhere warm. It's a small thing, but small things add up when you're doing a second shift.

We don't think there's one right path for kids. We think families do best with good choices, local leagues that put kids first, and a place that makes the logistics a little easier.

Sports parents, you're doing a lot. We see it.

Sources

• Aspen Institute Project Play, Project Play survey: Parents spend 3+ hours every day on child's sports (August 25, 2025), based on the Aspen Institute's National Youth Sports Parent Survey with Utah State University and Louisiana Tech University (1,848 parents, November to December 2024)
• SFIA, 2026 U.S. Trends in Team Sports: Participation Foundational Data one-pager (2026)