I feel like a loser of a parent as we have nothing planned. My son is quite humble and doesn't want anything done at the school, etc. He doesn't like the attention.
Anyone who has gone through this have any ideas? I want to respect my son's wishes to keep things on the down-low but I would love to celebrate his accomplishments as well.
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Does your school do anything for this. We had the typical "sit at a table and act like your signing your letter" thing at school. Our family was there with his coach, and he asked my wife's parents to come. They took a picture and it was in the local paper and the school newsletter.
All we really did outside of that was take the family out to dinner that night. I think he picked Steak N Shake.
We didn't do anything. He signed at school with 3 friends and went back to class.
Hug him and tell him how proud you are of him, take him to dinner, and most of all respect his wishes, this is about him, not you.
Congratulations!
My son is quite humble and doesn't want anything done at the school, etc. He doesn't like the attention.
Maybe there are some childhood/HS/summer coaches who would be thrilled to have a picture with your son on this occasion.
In this case it might be more satisfying to give, rather than receive, the attention
Most schools like to talk it up. All kids that are signing sit at a table, family and friends join for a small celebration. It's a good thing for the school and the kid's.
My son was the same, pretty humble, didn't want to make it a big deal. AD & Principal thought otherwise. They convinced him to be recognized, using the premise that it was good for the younger athletes to see what can be accomplished. He wrote a short speech thanking teachers, coaches, teammates and family. You could tell he was not comfortable.
At the end of the day it was good for all involved. He was the only kid in his school to sign(212 students) and only one of three in the county.
I would be surprised if the school wasn't already planning something. Have him go for it, he's earned it!
I like the three hats, fake picking one, then wear the real school. No, not really just kidding.
A simple table with the HS banner, family, HS coaches, friends, and the college coach. The boys signs the dotted line, everyone claps, take some pictures, and handshakes around the room. Afterwards, celebrate just with your immediate family. It's a memorable experience that happens once in life.
In our area most of the high schools have a signing party at the school. Parents bring in food, friends get out of class and come by to celebrate with family members, teachers, coaches and usually the prIncipal. We were lucky to have the video club come by and tape the event. It was nice to have a video memory of the coaches, principal and some friends messages to our son. The local sports high school web site and local papers also sent reporters to take pictures and write a story about the event. Was not sure it was something we wanted to do but the memories from the day are wonderful and I would highly recommend it.
One suggestion if your son does not like all the attention on him, our school started doing joint signing parties, they would get group up of kids across multi sports and have a combo signing party. This way the attention will be divided among several kids and not just your son.
congratulations!
Thank you all for your great suggestions. After my offering some of these suggestions....my son is insistent that we just go out to dinner as a family and sign at the kitchen table. 
I love his humble demeanor and quiet confidence. Thanks again for the help!
I would love for my son to sign at the Little League Fields-where it all started at age 7, where he learned to love the game. Those were some great times.
maybe just take a picture at dinner and post it for us to see. where is he going? position?
Already had the hat ceremony at home, but since D3 has no NLI he will not be signing with his D1 teammates. We will both go to celebrate with them this afternoon. This is the only day I think he might regret turning down the D1 offer.
I feel like a loser of a parent as we have nothing planned. My son is quite humble and doesn't want anything done at the school, etc. He doesn't like the attention.
Anyone who has gone through this have any ideas? I want to respect my son's wishes to keep things on the down-low but I would love to celebrate his accomplishments as well.
When my son signed his NLI I arranged for the local sport writer to be there and record the event with pictures of our son signing. He published a nice photo of him actually signing the NLI with us by his side with the college coach behind him. Included was a half page article about our son's baseball career to that point. (The other half of the page was about the team's come-from-behind-victory in the district championship game played the same day he signed).
The same writer has since written two follow up articles about the progression of our son's baseball career in college.
Some may think this is over the top, but things like this don't happen often in our community. Most in the baseball community knew of his accomplishments, but many outside of that did not.
The NLI signing paled in comparison to his teammate signing his MiLB contract with the Rays after being drafted in the 6th round. That was a circus with many in attendance.
Help me here....I thought having the college coach at signing was against NCAA rules?
I feel like a loser of a parent as we have nothing planned. My son is quite humble and doesn't want anything done at the school, etc. He doesn't like the attention.
Anyone who has gone through this have any ideas? I want to respect my son's wishes to keep things on the down-low but I would love to celebrate his accomplishments as well.
BBALLFAN2012,
Your son is very much like our oldest son. He wants no attention whatsoever. Well, he learned a valuable lesson during this process a few years ago.....that he can provide input but it will be ignored.
His high school admin and athletic dept had a special "signing day" just for him, and he was required to go. Mom, Dad, brothers, school admin, hs coach & ad, and local newspaper interviewed him. The signing day was purely ceremonial, and it was a very memorable day. Later that night the family went out for a nice steak dinner that he got to choose.
In hindsight, I'm glad his high school "coerced" him to attend this event in his honor otherwise it wouldn't have happened.
Help me here....I thought having the college coach at signing was against NCAA rules?
My son signed with a D2 JUCO. Different rules.
The most important thing about the ceremony and pictures is capturing that moment in time. It will be treasured 30 years from now. Even if you have to mock-up something in the garage (school posters/banners), I would definitely take a picture and capture the moment. It may be troublesome to him now but he'll appreciate your insistence later on.
