Parents of recruited football players - do you attend every game?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does any of this depend at all on if your kid is actually playing? If they are the third string field goal kicker with almost no chance of actually getting in the game, are you as likely to go?

My DS "played" D3 baseball. He was on the team but only played four innings in his four years on the team. After his freshman year, we realized he was never going to play but I still went to almost every single home game and any away games that were within a two hour drive. He was at a school about an hour from home so going to games was not a huge burden. I also went to his spring break games, which required a week long hotel stay. He typically had one week day game and three games on the weekend, 45 plus games over the course of the season.

Why did I go to watch my DS sit in the stands and keep stats? He liked it when I was there - we usually went out to eat after the games and he would never turn down a free meal! Life is short and the time we get to spend with our almost launched children is precious.

There were a couple of other parents with sons who rarely played who would attend most home weekend games. There were also parents of starters who rarely attended games. I would never judge parents who do or don't attend games - are there younger children at home? is it a financial burden to travel to games? does your job allow you to attend games? (one of the parents was a nurse and worked weekends.)

Good luck to your son!

Thank you this is sweet to hear. This is OP. We already know he won’t be playing much of the time. I do think it would be meaningful to him just to know we were there and supporting his work.

I don’t understand this at all. Just go visit your kid every weekend if he needs that level of support. Why does it even matter if they play a sport?

You don't understand because your boy spends all his free time playing with legos and video games when Math Counts! is over for the week. Those with lifelong athletes who've truly made it to the national pinnacle of their sport get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does any of this depend at all on if your kid is actually playing? If they are the third string field goal kicker with almost no chance of actually getting in the game, are you as likely to go?

My DS "played" D3 baseball. He was on the team but only played four innings in his four years on the team. After his freshman year, we realized he was never going to play but I still went to almost every single home game and any away games that were within a two hour drive. He was at a school about an hour from home so going to games was not a huge burden. I also went to his spring break games, which required a week long hotel stay. He typically had one week day game and three games on the weekend, 45 plus games over the course of the season.

Why did I go to watch my DS sit in the stands and keep stats? He liked it when I was there - we usually went out to eat after the games and he would never turn down a free meal! Life is short and the time we get to spend with our almost launched children is precious.

There were a couple of other parents with sons who rarely played who would attend most home weekend games. There were also parents of starters who rarely attended games. I would never judge parents who do or don't attend games - are there younger children at home? is it a financial burden to travel to games? does your job allow you to attend games? (one of the parents was a nurse and worked weekends.)

Good luck to your son!

Thank you this is sweet to hear. This is OP. We already know he won’t be playing much of the time. I do think it would be meaningful to him just to know we were there and supporting his work.

I don’t understand this at all. Just go visit your kid every weekend if he needs that level of support. Why does it even matter if they play a sport?

You don't understand because your boy spends all his free time playing with legos and video games when Math Counts! is over for the week. Those with lifelong athletes who've truly made it to the national pinnacle of their sport get it.

Sorry…I actually have a son playing baseball in college. PP said their kid plays D3 baseball so not the pinnacle of their sport. However, their kid isn’t actually playing so in fact there is zero reason to attend the games…but it sounds like PP’s kid needs them to visit them at college every weekend because their kid needs their support…therefore it doesn’t matter if their kid is an athlete at all.

We go to some of the games where he plays (he is a pitcher)…even he would think we are nuts to drive hours to watch a game where he isn’t pitching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your kid going away to college is a great opportunity/time for you to pick up new hobbies, skills, or friendships!

Clearly you don't have an athlete or you were one of the crappy parents who was MIA for their games.

My kids college coach is so irritated with the over
involvement parents at the college level. Find something else to do with yourself then piss off your kids couch.

So this would mean there are no spectators at whatever sport that your kid maybe plays.

The games are full of students. It’s one of the activities provided to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assume your son’s college is a plane ride away, as are all the away games. Does one or both parents fly out to watch the game and pay for hotels?

Trying to think ahead here for next year

That sounds insane to even consider.

Explain?

For the sake of discussion, assume that our son is the last to leave the nest, so there’s no teenagers at home. We do have a dog, but my sister will happily take that dog for the weekend so pet sitting isn’t a problem.

We can pretty easily afford plane tickets and hotels if we plan well in advance and select economy flights

What is there to discuss then? If this is what you want to do, do it, but most parents probably are not in your exact situation either financially, because of younger children, or their own work/commitments at home. I think you’re breathing rarified air.

[Anonymous]

I think the OP should try and go to as many games as possible. If anyone has gone to any college football games, then they should realize that parents do this all the time. You see family members wearing their kids' jerseys in the stands. Like others have said, football is much easier than other sports.

Attending games is for the parents as much as their kids. By attending games you are celebrating you child's achievement.

I think you have to try and attend a lot of the games freshman year because you don't want to regret it if you decide that you like the games later in their college careers.

And not clubs are not the same as a sport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the OP should try and go to as many games as possible. If anyone has gone to any college football games, then they should realize that parents do this all the time. You see family members wearing their kids' jerseys in the stands. Like others have said, football is much easier than other sports.

Attending games is for the parents as much as their kids. By attending games you are celebrating you child's achievement.

I think you have to try and attend a lot of the games freshman year because you don't want to regret it if you decide that you like the games later in their college careers.

And not clubs are not the same as a sport.

every parent should do what works for their family. Parents go to visit their kids in college for 50 different reasons. Athletic events. Theater performances, music singing and dance performances, research presentations.

Many parents try to go to these events but many cannot. It's okay either way. Many of the events are available to be viewed with live streaming if you're unable to go in person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Assume your son’s college is a plane ride away, as are all the away games. Does one or both parents fly out to watch the game and pay for hotels?

Trying to think ahead here for next year

OP -- it depends. I would say most parents to go to most of the games if their DS is playing. For a freshman -- if you knew they were not playing -- redshirt or just fourth in the depth chart then no parents do not go that often. If your DS is getting a lot of playing time, most parents do in fact go regardless of distance. We had friends whose son was a TE at Stanford and then went to every game all four years -- home and away. That was the norm at Stanford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assume your son’s college is a plane ride away, as are all the away games. Does one or both parents fly out to watch the game and pay for hotels?

Trying to think ahead here for next year

OP -- it depends. I would say most parents to go to most of the games if their DS is playing. For a freshman -- if you knew they were not playing -- redshirt or just fourth in the depth chart then no parents do not go that often. If your DS is getting a lot of playing time, most parents do in fact go regardless of distance. We had friends whose son was a TE at Stanford and then went to every game all four years -- home and away. That was the norm at Stanford.[/quote]

It's more are you on the outside of the parent social group or not. Stanford student game attendance is pretty bad and gets worse every year...maybe there is more parental peer pressure to attend games for that reason.

Also, your kid is attending Stanford for free...so you are likely coming out ahead financially.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assume your son’s college is a plane ride away, as are all the away games. Does one or both parents fly out to watch the game and pay for hotels?

Trying to think ahead here for next year

OP -- it depends. I would say most parents to go to most of the games if their DS is playing. For a freshman -- if you knew they were not playing -- redshirt or just fourth in the depth chart then no parents do not go that often. If your DS is getting a lot of playing time, most parents do in fact go regardless of distance. We had friends whose son was a TE at Stanford and then went to every game all four years -- home and away. That was the norm at Stanford.[/quote]

It's more are you on the outside of the parent social group or not. Stanford student game attendance is pretty bad and gets worse every year...maybe there is more parental peer pressure to attend games for that reason.

Also, your kid is attending Stanford for free...so you are likely coming out ahead financially.

I really wouldn't spend too much energy or bandwidth on whether or not you were in or out of the parents sport social group for your kids college team. Maybe if you have nothing else to do.

They go, they play (or not). they graduate and on they go. What the parents do socially is not really a major concern in any of it.

My DC non-football team has always a parent that steps up and organizes communication for any parent activities around a sporting event. Any parent is welcome to go or not. Certainly some of the parents have become very friendly and some are not present but no one is excluded. Maybe football is more clicky or disorganized, but I wouldn't think so.

[Anonymous]

My son is in the marching band so not quite the same, but similar. We absolutely enjoy going to the home games. We’ve gone to about half of them and wish we could go to all of them. The atmosphere at the games is fantastic sitting amongst all the parents and alumni in the stands.

We should have planned ahead to book hotels because some weekends like parent weekend the hotels are really expensive. So figure out early where you plan on staying and book flights (if needed) and hotels early.

We get a suite and my son sleeps some Friday and Saturday nights at the hotel. He is in a triple with a roommate that snores. He has Friday night band practice and has to be at early morning marching band pre-game drill at 7 am and is busy with pre-game rally and shows, then the game and then post-game rally. So it’s a long day and if it is a night game a long night, so he appreciates being able to shower and sleep in at hotel.