Do parents drink at your tween’s sporting events?

[Anonymous]

The worst is swim meets. I see plenty of people drinking, in the heat, in the summer. Never a good idea. Who is driving home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand. A game is a couple of hours, you can’t last through that without a drink at a children’s event?

Or if you have a series of games, you should be hydrating because you will be outside for a long time and driving frequently.

That’s what I was thinking. I can imagine having some parents / players over after a game or tournament- but not being able to make it 2-3 hours without alcohol? That shocks me. I sure as heck wouldn’t be carpooling with those parents.

Do they think it’s cute or funny? It makes me think they are alcoholics.

ITA! There is no happy medium on any topic on this board. On our kid's soccer team, the parents will usually plan for the nicest weather afternoon of each season to be a bit social. Just the once and definitely in the interest of the families getting to know each other without having to plan another event. It's fun and not gross nor sad. But it's not 9am either.

Where do you get that people "can't make it" 2-3 hours? without alcohol? That's a massive and unsupported inference.

The teetotalers on this board always do that. If you want to drink it must be because you're an out of control drunk. If you have one beer at a kids athletic event you're clearly an alcoholic guilty of child endangerment.

That's why no one offers anyone in this thread a thermos of sangria.

[Anonymous]

I am a parent of a kid in rec baseball, not travel, and I've never seen drinking at the games. But, I find the phenomenon described in this thread interesting, and it's reminding me of an Atlantic article I read about how parents today don't have friends they way parents in previous generations did. Basically, the argument was that parents devote so much time to their kids that they don't/can't cultivate friendships or hobbies of their own.

Then, reading this thread and knowing what I do about the demands of travel baseball (one reason we aren't going down that path, at least for now), it makes me wonder if these parents are using the travel baseball as their social outlet.

Does that make sense? I'm not trying to condone the drinking in any way (I am no teetotaler, and there are long, slow baseball games when I'd love to have a beer in hand...if I didn't have to drive home! That's really the sticking point...plus the people who drink to excess). I'm just trying to connect the dots between these strange trends: youth sports-obsessed culture + parents not having social outlets = parents drinking at games?

[Anonymous]

I've seen it in travel softball, but only occasionally. And rec ball one year, now that I think about it. DD plays on 16U now, so we've had lots and lots of games. No one on our teams was out of control, and if the moms were drinking sangria, they had drivers there with them.

[Anonymous]

the baseball parents always sneak beer, hard seltzer.. every one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a parent of a kid in rec baseball, not travel, and I've never seen drinking at the games. But, I find the phenomenon described in this thread interesting, and it's reminding me of an Atlantic article I read about how parents today don't have friends they way parents in previous generations did. Basically, the argument was that parents devote so much time to their kids that they don't/can't cultivate friendships or hobbies of their own.

Then, reading this thread and knowing what I do about the demands of travel baseball (one reason we aren't going down that path, at least for now), it makes me wonder if these parents are using the travel baseball as their social outlet.

Does that make sense? I'm not trying to condone the drinking in any way (I am no teetotaler, and there are long, slow baseball games when I'd love to have a beer in hand...if I didn't have to drive home! That's really the sticking point...plus the people who drink to excess). I'm just trying to connect the dots between these strange trends: youth sports-obsessed culture + parents not having social outlets = parents drinking at games?

if the kid takes it seriously enough, especially when they are younger and need rides to practice, you're going to spend a very large portion of your weekends and afternoons around the parents on your kids team. They may not be your best friends, but you're probably seeing them for a few hours (more during tournaments) each weekend plus several hours during the week (until the kids are old enough to be left alone at practice)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand. A game is a couple of hours, you can’t last through that without a drink at a children’s event?

Or if you have a series of games, you should be hydrating because you will be outside for a long time and driving frequently.

That’s what I was thinking. I can imagine having some parents / players over after a game or tournament- but not being able to make it 2-3 hours without alcohol? That shocks me. I sure as heck wouldn’t be carpooling with those parents.

Do they think it’s cute or funny? It makes me think they are alcoholics.

Where do you get that people "can't make it" 2-3 hours? without alcohol? That's a massive and unsupported inference.

The teetotalers on this board always do that. If you want to drink it must be because you're an out of control drunk. If you have one beer at a kids athletic event you're clearly an alcoholic guilty of child endangerment.

That's why no one offers anyone in this thread a thermos of sangria.

I’m not a tea-toter. But I think you do have a problem if you can’t follow simple rules about not drinking. Almost every single one of these clubs and leagues have a rule that parents and spectators should not be drinking during the game. And almost all the venues that are hosting these games also have a No alcohol policy.
It’s a stunning example parents are sitting for their children. The rules don’t apply to them. Having a few drinks where it’s not allowed is not a big deal. Drinking and driving is not a big deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this a thing? No, no one is drinking at the noon baseball game.

Wrong

+1

[Anonymous]

Alexandria Little League parent here. If I see you with a travel mug, hydroflask, opaque Nalgene or some other container I know it's either a mixed drink or wine, especially if it's a night game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand. A game is a couple of hours, you can’t last through that without a drink at a children’s event?

Or if you have a series of games, you should be hydrating because you will be outside for a long time and driving frequently.

That’s what I was thinking. I can imagine having some parents / players over after a game or tournament- but not being able to make it 2-3 hours without alcohol? That shocks me. I sure as heck wouldn’t be carpooling with those parents.

Do they think it’s cute or funny? It makes me think they are alcoholics.

Where do you get that people "can't make it" 2-3 hours? without alcohol? That's a massive and unsupported inference.

Do you drink while you run errands? At work? While doing yard work?
I also like to have a beer on a nice spring or summer afternoon, but I do it after we get home from activities.
If you need to drink alcohol during a practice or a game, maybe you have a problem.

[Anonymous]

No way! We’re a military family with high schoolers, so have lived all over the country with very sporty kids. Even Las Vegas, where drinking in public is extremely common. I’ve never see parents at track, soccer, basketball or cross country (club, rec and school sports) drinking on the sidelines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand. A game is a couple of hours, you can’t last through that without a drink at a children’s event?

Or if you have a series of games, you should be hydrating because you will be outside for a long time and driving frequently.

That’s what I was thinking. I can imagine having some parents / players over after a game or tournament- but not being able to make it 2-3 hours without alcohol? That shocks me. I sure as heck wouldn’t be carpooling with those parents.

Do they think it’s cute or funny? It makes me think they are alcoholics.

Agree.
Two children in travel soccer. Tournaments can be long sometimes, but it never occurred to me to drink during the day while watching them play.
I enjoy watching them play. I enjoy the sport.
Same for when they were on swim team.

Agree, I would never think to drink during my DD's travel game and I have never seen any other parent doing so (and we've spent ALOT of time together). Though many do have a beer/wine or two at the hotel or restaurant at night when away at tournaments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alexandria Little League parent here. If I see you with a travel mug, hydroflask, opaque Nalgene or some other container I know it's either a mixed drink or wine, especially if it's a night game.

That is ridiculous. DC travel parent here and we all have yetis/hydroflasks and no one has alcohol in them. You know how I know why, because our daughters ALWAYS run out of water and end up taking the half full hydroflasks to drink and share with their teammates. No one has ever said their kid couldn't have their drink.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alexandria Little League parent here. If I see you with a travel mug, hydroflask, opaque Nalgene or some other container I know it's either a mixed drink or wine, especially if it's a night game.

That is ridiculous. DC travel parent here and we all have yetis/hydroflasks and no one has alcohol in them. You know how I know why, because our daughters ALWAYS run out of water and end up taking the half full hydroflasks to drink and share with their teammates. No one has ever said their kid couldn't have their drink.

OMG, this is 10000% true.

I probably have to give my kids my water bottle about 75% of the time because they forgot to fill their water bottle, or they filled it and left it on the counter, or they brought the small water bottle and ran out.

so I give them my Nalgene or my Yeti.

It would be super awkward if my kid ran up to me to ask if they could bring my Yeti into the dug out and I had to be like "Uh....no...and don't ask any more questions...."

[Anonymous]

I have two teen athletes and I have never noticed a single person drinking! You guys are telling me I’ve just been completely clueless?