Two kids. Three teams. One car.
The sports schedule.
Practices in one app, games in another, and the change that actually matters arrives in a group text at 7pm. Here's how a season really runs, and how to keep it in one place.
By the Fivey team, a parent-run company · Updated September 2026
Why it's harder than it looks
A single team is easy. The load starts when one child has practice twice a week and games on Saturday, the other has a different league with a different app, and both seasons overlap for six weeks in the fall. Nothing is hard on its own. Holding all of it, and noticing the collision three weeks out, is the work.
What a season actually looks like
Fall
August to NovemberSoccer, flag football, cross country, field hockey, volleyball
Sign-ups close in late spring, practices start the week before school, and games land on Saturday mornings.
Easy to miss: Picture day and the end-of-season tournament are announced late and rarely repeated.
Winter
November to MarchBasketball, hockey, swim, wrestling, indoor soccer
Gym time is rented, so practices move week to week and the schedule arrives in short bursts.
Easy to miss: Weeknight games at away gyms — the drive is usually longer than the game.
Spring
March to JuneBaseball, softball, lacrosse, track, tennis
The most rain-outs of any season, and make-up games get slotted in with days of notice.
Easy to miss: Make-ups that collide with end-of-year concerts and field trips.
Summer
June to AugustSwim team, camps, travel and club tournaments
Whole weekends, often out of town, booked months ahead of the rest of the calendar.
Easy to miss: Hotel cut-off dates that quietly pass before the roster is confirmed.
“The schedule isn't the problem. The four places it changes are.”
Where the schedule lives
TeamSnap. Most rec leagues. Availability requests come by push and expire.
SportsEngine. Club and travel teams. Schedule changes arrive as email from the league, not the coach.
GameChanger. Baseball and softball. Great for scoring, weak as a calendar.
Group texts. Where the actual change gets announced first, usually at 7pm the night before.
Every one of them is right some of the time. None of them is the calendar the family drives from, which is why the same question gets asked twice a week: who's taking her, and what time does it actually start?
Keeping one calendar that holds
Name on every entry. Soccer game — Sophie. Two kids, two sports, no guessing at 8am.
Address in the details. The field, not the school. Away games are the ones you'll be late to.
Change it once. One person enters the change, everyone else reads it. Two editors means two versions.
How it shows up in your day
- 1
Fivey reads the league email and the coach's message, before you've opened either.
- 2
The game lands on the day with the child's name on it and the field in the details.
- 3
A make-up game gets flagged when it collides with something you already had.
Questions people ask
How do I keep track of multiple kids' sports schedules?
Put every team on one calendar with the child's name in the title, and make one person responsible for entering changes. Two kids on three teams is four sources of truth unless you collapse them into one.
Why won't the team app sync to my calendar?
Most league apps publish a read-only feed that updates slowly, so a canceled game can sit on your calendar for hours. Treat the feed as a draft and confirm changes against the coach's message.
What's the best way to handle rained-out games?
Assume the make-up will land on a weeknight you already have something on. Note the conflict the moment the cancellation arrives, not when the make-up is announced.
How far ahead should we plan a travel tournament?
Book lodging as soon as the tournament is named, not when the schedule drops. Brackets are usually published a week out, long after the rooms have gone.
Who should get the schedule?
Everyone who might drive. A schedule one parent can see is a schedule one parent owns.