Sports equipment storage tips for active families

With all the social media and screen-based entertainment we’re surrounded by now, it’s never been more important to motivate and encourage your children to engage in other, healthier activities. If they’re interested in a particular sport, or if you’re active as a family and enjoy sporty activities together, you’re doing a great job! 

That said, you might find that your house is becoming, or has become, rather overrun with all the paraphernalia that comes with your family’s sport(s) of choice. Footballs, tennis rackets, bats, skis, bikes, boots and safety gear can be a challenge to store and organise.

So here are some practical, simple ways to keep your family’s sports equipment neat, accessible, and undamaged - and out of the way!

1. Do an inventory check and declutter

If you have equipment stashed all over the house, as well as outside or in sheds, it’s worth assessing what you have, and start organising it to get the best use out of it. Some pieces of sports gear might not have seen the light of day for months or even years, whilst other items might get used daily or weekly. You might have duplicate items, equipment that needs repair or replacing.

Separate out the gear that you want to keep, and the items that can be sold, donated to charity, or recycled. 

As is the way of such things, the moment your children see the items that have been gathering dust at the back of the understairs cupboard, they will want to use it and insist that they need to keep it. So just because it hasn’t been used for a while, don’t automatically consign it to the ‘to go’ pile. 

If they can use it, great! 

If they’ve physically outgrown it (e.g. safety gear that no longer fits, or a bike they used when they were much smaller), help them to part with it without stress or upset by suggesting that they could help you sell it online and put the money towards a new version of whatever it is, or another treat. Or use it as an opportunity to encourage generosity and kindness by donating it to charity for children who may not be as fortunate as they are.

Aim to end up with an assortment of sports equipment and clothing that is fit for purpose, not duplicated, and will be used by your family.

2. Sort it all into piles

Group together all the things you’ve decided to keep into categories:

• Things you use every day or weekly (e.g. bike helmets, footballs, rackets).
• Things you use for just a few weeks each year (for seasonal sports like skiing, snowboarding in winter, hiking, kayaking, paddleboarding and cricketing in summer).
• Things you use only occasionally (e.g. fishing gear, camping equipment).

3. Choose how and where to store your sports gear

Storing everyday sports equipment

All the things in pile ‘A’ need to stay at home where you and your children can access them whenever you want. You don’t want to be in a position where you have to say, “No, sorry, you can’t go out and ride your bikes, I haven’t got time to get the bikes out of storage.”

If you have too many of these items to keep in the house without everyone falling over it all, consider this: children are more likely to want to do something if it’s novel. Keeping their bikes, a football, and maybe a swingball set at home will give them something to play with when they want to, but they will lose interest and become less inclined to play with them over time. Swapping those items out for scooters, cricket bats, maybe a basketball hoop, will give them the novelty they crave and spur them back into action.

So whilst you should keep some sports gear at home, not everything they use has to be kept at home. Some of it can be stored in the same way as your seasonal or occasional gear, below, and brought out again to refresh and revitalise your children’s interest.

Storing seasonal sports gear

You can save a lot of space and make your home feel less ‘full’ or cluttered very easily by putting (un)seasonal sports gear into self storage. This can be everything in pile ‘B’ that won’t be used until the weather changes again.

Depending on what kind of sports your family enjoys, these might include:

Winter sports - skis, poles, snowboard, snow suits, ski gloves, base layers, snow boots.

Summer sports - paddleboards, kayaks / canoes, oars, wetsuits, camping gear, hiking boots, garden sports (e.g. swingball, boules), skateboards, bikes, cricket bats and pads, golf clubs.

There will be several months each year where one type of sport or the other just won’t get played. Putting that equipment into a self storage unit at a store near you will keep everything dry, clean and organised for whenever the next season starts. Just make sure all your gear is clean and dry before putting it into storage, and it will be safe and sound until you need it. 

Storing occasional sports gear

If there are sports you play as a family only every so often - for instance, if you go on a hiking / camping holiday once a year - then all the gear relating to that sport can be kept away from home to minimise clutter and ensure nothing gets damaged between uses.

Using a self storage unit for this occasional sports gear is a great way to keep it all safe and organised. Put everything into labelled boxes so you can find it easily, and keep everything grouped together within your storage unit so that you can pick it all up together next time you head off on a trip. For instance, keep your tent and poles in one box / bag, your pegs, sleeping bags, bed rolls, hanging storage and mallet in another. 

If you have multiple boxes for a particular sport, it’s worth numbering the boxes, too - e.g. “Camping, box 1 of 4”, “Camping, box 2 of 4” etc. That way, you won’t forget anything!

4. Choose where to store equipment at home

Everything that’s staying at home needs to be stored carefully and out of the way. Allocate a cupboard, or a shed, or a corner of the garage / utility room as your new sports storage area. That will stop things spreading all over the house, and everyone will be able to find what they need without having to look in every room or under every bed.

Install ‘ladder hooks’ to store things like oars or ski poles (when they’re not in your storage unit) to make use of the vertical space. Keep a boot tray underneath your equipment to catch any dirt or grass.

Some other storage tips for keeping sports gear at home are:

• Use pegboards or coat racks to hang up helmets and rackets;
• Install a bike hook to store your bike vertically;
• Use boxes or baskets to store small items like balls, shuttlecocks and gloves.

5. Choose a self storage unit

If you decide to use a self storage unit, search for a store near home (or on a route to your regular sports venues) so you won’t have to drive for miles to access your belongings. We have stores all over Great Britain, near major road and rail networks, so you should be able to find a Safestore near you.

The cost of renting a storage unit depends on how large your unit is and how long you want to keep it. You can rent a storage unit with us for as little or as long as you like (and add or remove belongings whenever you like during our normal opening hours), and we have units ranging in size from 10 sq ft (about the size of a large car boot) to 500 sq ft + warehouse size spaces, and everything in between. 

Have a look at ourself storage size calculator to help you decide how much space you’ll need (having done your inventory and decided what needs to be stored), or give us a call and one of our experienced team can give you advice based on what you plan to store. 

Can we help?

If you have more sports gear than you can shake a (hockey) stick at cluttering up your house and garden and want to know more about self storage with us, please get in touch. We can give you all the information you need with no obligation or pressure to book a unit with us. If you decide to reserve a unit you can do so online or by phone, with no deposit to pay.