Parents of secondary school children. What type of bag for PE kit in Year 7?

[bryte]

I've crossed everything else off our list and thought I was doing really well. We've got all this lovely new compulsory PE kit and I'm not sure what sort of bag is 'normal' for Year 7 pupils to put their PE kit in. When I was at school (many, many years ago) I used a carrier bag, stuffed in my school bag. And we kept PE kit in our lockers and only brought them home half-termly. I'm guessing things have changed a bit now....

Draw string sports bag. Like this but not necessarily a label. my two have LFC ones.

Ours specify zip-up bag. There's a lot of kit...
See Argos for big selection

My Y7 and Y9 DDs have mini rucksacks like this
They have too much kit for the drawstring bags and their stuff is more secure and easy to carry in the backpack.
As a teacher, I see all sorts being lugged around the school, but IME the bag needs to have some sort of secure fastening or losses are inevitable.

DD1 prefers a drawstring bag, because she can stuff it into her locker. Don't think a proper sports bag would fit. She got a big one which just about holds all her kit. In reality, she knows whether she's going to need indoor/summer kit or outdoor/winter kit, so it doesn't all need carrying around although she does, because she's paranoid about forgetting something

Drawstring bags here all round. DS has 3, one slightly larger for outdoor kit, another for indoor kit, and one for swimming. The girls only ever needed one. DD3 is starting y7 with a London 2012 Team GB one :)

Definitely not a draw string bag. If kit is heavy the strings dig into the shoulders. We've always gone for small holdalls - they're not rigid so will squash into a locker just the same as a draw string but are roomier when necessary, easier to find things in, tend to have one or two separate zip compartments which are handy for small items and are more comfortable to carry around if (like my dcs) you can't be bothered to use your locker.

There aren't always lockers. DS1's school has them but DS2's school won't. It will get interesting when he has PE, after school footy and a cooking lesson on the same day.

Mine have large nylon drawstring bags (e.g.Quadra Senior Gymsac) that they then squash into their rucksack with all their books (and clarinet, and lunch etc). DS1 did sailing last year as his games option, and managed to fit his entire sailing kit into his schoolbag, including wetsuit, sailing shoes & towel.

Mine likes drawstrings too, he has several and often carries at least 2 into school together. He has plain ones, cricket ones, athletics ones, etc.

MilkRunning - how on earth does your ds get his cricket gear in a drawstring bag?!!!! My kids have coffin-sized cricket bags to accommodate bat, helmet, pads, box, whites, drinks etc!

bryte - ds did what you describe in your OP.
dds use a drawstring bag and then do what you describe in your op.

HTH

Sports bags are "not done" at ds's school. Everything is shoved loose into backpacks- apart from a supermarket carrier bag for dirty boots.

So don't spend much money until you know what the unwritten rule is.

Mine have those nylon barrel bags like wot we all had in the 70's/80's

DS1 has one of these.

I got them because they are structureless and can be squashed easily into lockers. And cheap.

DD actually has a quite groovy black and pink barrel bag we got from Primark.

Dd has a jack wills barrel bag. But she doesn't have to take it to and for each week as she has a pe locker and it stays in there and comes home each half term for washing. There would be far too much pe stuff to for into her normal school bag.

Something like this with pockets and room:
www.amazon.co.uk/HEAD-Head-Viceroy-Holdall--Navy/dp/B004TJYCRU/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1408887349&sr=8-4&keywords=sports+bag

Watch SIZE or it won't fit in locker!

Thanks for all the suggestions. I need to find some parents of current pupils and see what is the norm at DD's school-to-be. I like the idea of the barrel bag that has no structure so can still be stuffed into smaller spaces.

DS has a regular zip up sports bag (but he does a lot of sport, so is often carrying around football kits etc).

The DDs currently have drawstring bags, but DD1's has fallen apart so she is looking for one of those canvas totes/shoppers to use instead. Preferably with a Jack Wills logo.

" There would be far too much pe stuff to for into her normal school bag."

Yep- ds too. But he manages. And he plays sport every day.

Hakulyt - but how? Seriously the barrel bag is full with all the kit she needs. And her normal school bag is also pretty full. It literally wouldn't fit in together. There are two different pairs of trainers to start with, as well as indoor and outdoor kits, plus base and top layers.

Luckily taking it every day isn't the case here as she has a PE locker, in addition to her classroom locker.

Poltergoose, my DS has the same duffle bag! His lasted the whole of Year 7, but he has a new one for this year as it didn't fair too well in the washing machine after he broke up in July.