Are you a mom (insert sport of your choice here)?

If so, you probably have tons of photos of your child(ren) waiting to be discarded. Or maybe you’ve been faithfully attending games/events for so long that you know you’re not carrying your camera anymore. Either way, here are some ideas for you to dispose of those sports memorabilia.

The first thing we tend to think about when it comes to scrapbooking sports is action shots. You want to capture the swing of the bat that caused the game-winning home run. Or the “shot score!” A word of caution for new moms, the first score/shot/completion/etc. priceless. You don’t want to miss it because you were waiting behind a camera lens. You don’t know how long you are going to wait, a game, a season, several seasons.

Most likely once the first has happened; you will have a new confidence to sprout many more to come! Be sure to capture other action shots along the way: dribbling, running, kicking, swimming, you name it. It just captures the “essence” of the sport. There are a lot of things leading up to the last shot/moment, so make sure you capture those things as well.

Second, create a design based on the determination and practice it takes to get into the game. Often more hours are spent on preparation and practice than on the game or sport. Capture these moments by exercising, doing the same step over and over again. My niece is a cheerleader. One day she was practicing her back flips. Over and over again with her mother’s spots, until she was finally able to do it on her own! Imagine a page capturing the attempts and finally being able to do it. A lesson learned! This is a powerful thing for a child’s self-esteem. You can come back to this design whenever your child needs to make sure she can do it!

Then capture the excitement of the sport. There are many emotions involved: happy moments, low moments, a moment of sheer determination, frustration, and a myriad of other emotions. Forget the body shot, zoom in on your face and capture your emotion. Ask them afterwards what they were thinking and feeling and include it in your journal.

Get inspired by the sports page of your local newspaper. Or better yet, if your team showed up, cut it out, spray it with file-safe spray, and include it in your design. Use newspaper headlines as titles for your page. “Warriors beat Panthers, 3-1” or “Hawks soar to new heights.” Okay, these are off the top of my head, but I hope you get the idea.

Finally, ask your child why he plays this sport. His answer might surprise you. Whatever your answer, play. If they answered “competitiveness,” find (or take) a photo of them actually fighting for the ball.

Or if they said, “style or elegance,” capture a beautiful cape. Use these single words as titles and include the definition as embellishment.

Scrapbooking sports is more than “official” team photos and posed shots. Get in the game, be creative! Capture some action, dedication, excitement and the whys. What are you going to capture next?