Kid is at practice from 9 to 11. You hand them a water bottle at 8:55. They drink half, run hard for two hours, finish the bottle in the car, and are dehydrated by 1pm.

The fix is the daily plan, not the bottle.

The plan.

Wake up. 8-12 ounces of water with breakfast. Skip orange juice as the only morning fluid, too much sugar.

Mid-morning, two hours before practice. 16-20 ounces of water. This is the loading window. The kid who drinks a full water bottle at 9 for an 11am practice walks onto the field hydrated. The kid who chugs at 10:55 walks on with water sloshing in the stomach and not yet absorbed.

During practice. 6-12 ounces every 15-20 minutes. Most coaches build in water breaks. If they don’t, the kid carries a bottle and uses it.

Right after practice. 16-24 ounces of water plus a snack with sodium (pretzels, salted nuts, deli sandwich). The post-practice window is when most rehydration happens.

Lunch. Real food. Real water. The kid who eats a sandwich at noon is replacing what they lost. The kid who has a granola bar is not.

Mid-afternoon. Another 16 ounces. By now they should be peeing pale yellow. If urine is dark, they’re behind.

Dinner. Real meal. Water with the meal.

Bedtime. A glass of water before bed, especially if they have practice or a game the next day.

Total daily target: 80-100 ounces for a 100-pound active kid in summer heat. Sounds like a lot. It’s a glass with every meal plus a bottle at practice. Manageable.

The hydration check.

Pale yellow urine throughout the day = hydrated. Dark yellow or amber = behind. The kid who pees once before practice and once after is not drinking enough.

Sports drinks vs water.

Plain water is fine for most days. Add an electrolyte mix (LMNT, Liquid IV, Ultima) when:

  • Practice is 90+ minutes in real heat (above 80°F).
  • All-day tournaments.
  • The kid is a known heavy sweater.

Skip sugary sports drinks (regular Gatorade, Powerade) for daily use. The sugar load isn’t necessary and most parents don’t realize a 20oz Gatorade has the sugar of a soda.

The thing parents miss most.

Kids don’t drink between meals on their own. The water has to be visible, available, and prompted. A bottle on the kitchen counter that the kid sees four times a day gets drunk. A bottle in the cabinet gets refilled in the morning and refilled the next morning, full.

Hydration isn’t a moment-of-game decision. It’s a daily rhythm. Build it before summer ball season starts and it carries through.