That Feeling When Your Kid Has A Game Today

For high school I would say pretty anxious. There are some awful toxic parents there and overall just not fun. I couldn't wait for the season to end. My son had a good year, just a lot of background noise that we couldn't wait to get a break from.

For travel, I love it. The parents are usually pretty good, the team is usually pretty good, and he usually seems more relaxed in that environment. I'm especially looking forward to this summer. My son guest played for this team a bunch last summer and is playing for them full-time this summer.

I usually have a sense of excitement on game day because (1) I'm happy for him to have a chance to do something that he loves and (2) I really like watching baseball (regardless if it's my kid's game or not). But, that said, I also simultaneously try and suppress that excitement because (1) he's the player and this is HIS game and not mine and (2) this has nothing to do with me...I'm not the player, I'm not the coach, etc. End of the day, I'm just a fan of the player and the team and should not get excited as if it was my game.

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

For high school I would say pretty anxious. There are some awful toxic parents there and overall just not fun. I couldn't wait for the season to end. My son had a good year, just a lot of background noise that we couldn't wait to get a break from.

For travel, I love it. The parents are usually pretty good, the team is usually pretty good, and he usually seems more relaxed in that environment. I'm especially looking forward to this summer. My son guest played for this team a bunch last summer and is playing for them full-time this summer.

Very similar here. Similar type of environment at the high school. There is a group of parents who we used to be close with and play with when my son was younger. When my son decided to go and move up to higher skilled teams, we became villains and still are to this day. It does make for uncomfortable situations at times at the games. So we mainly try to keep to ourselves.

Big playoff game today. Second game of a three game playoff series. We won the first game last night. The opposing team is a very solid team, but very mouthy. Their fans are very mouthy also. It was a very tense environment last night. Going to be the same tonight. Definitely an anxiety build up.

According to the situation.  When he was in HS, it was not that big of a deal most games because many were not competitive.  In Travel, it depended on the setting and the opponent.  WWBA at LakePointe or Jupiter was a lot different than playing in Kansas City or some small tournament against local teams.  This weekend is excitement.  Maybe a once in a lifetime or very small in a lifetime chance.  Son has been blessed to play in 3 top 10 match ups this year.  Son is playing on #4 team in the nation playing #1 team in the nation at 100% capacity stadium.  Almost like a national championship setting.  These are the weekends your child and you dream about and just hope your child soaks it all in because baseball can be a very fickle game and this opportunity may never come his way again.  I will remind everyone with younger players to take every game in because they go by very fast.  I am on son #3 and have been doing this for 25 years and maybe only a few years left.

HS- He started and was the No2 his Jr year and No1 his Sr. We had a solid group of parents on that team, the minority of which carried the gameday duties so my wife typically covered for me and let me watch the games. His Sr. year, I worked the booth, announcing the homes games and I enjoyed that very much, it also was a nice distraction from the pitch-to-pitch anxiety I normally experienced.

Travel: We had an awesome group of families and kids and while we were never the best team, we beat a lot of better teams and ultimately made lifetime friends from that group. The NBS dads still have a group text going (about 7 of us) and try to meet up for dinner and beers a few times a year.

College: He started 6 games his Fr. season and those were fairly hectic, especially the two weekend starts which didn't go that well.  So. and Jr. year he was out of the pen and frankly we watched those games from the Cheap Seats and Cajun Cafe and never knew when/if he was getting in...it was usually later in the games and we typically had an entire posse of fans rooting with us, that was very fun.

Milb: We had to get used to not watching him live much at all unless the facilities had streaming on MiLB TV or online....he's in his 4th "season" and in AA and has played 7 games and I've not watched a single game. I'm sure I'll catch a few but unfortunately for me, it's better if i don't watch and we can talk later if he decides to review a game and an outing. I may wet my pants when he gets called up.... whenever that day comes.

Always exciting for me (probably more so than my son) on game day. Kid has a knack for doing something quite memorable (good or bad) almost every game. He could easily go 4-4 or 0-4 on any given day....the inconsistency makes every at-bat or play in the field must see TV...lately it's been games with1 for 3 with 2 weak outs and one bomb...go figure...LOL!

i had my turn. It was his/her turn (daughter played softball). I didn’t get excited. I thought more about what I had to do that day to arrive on time whether it was just the work that day or catching a plane by a certain time.

When I arrived it was more about seeing the people I liked than the game. With travel I knew it was going to be an enjoyable weekend watching and dining with people I liked.

Story about dining out Saturday night ... It was 18u Gold softball. Some of the girls were old enough to drive. They decided to eat at Hooters while the parents ate at a nice restaurant. Why did the girls want to eat at Hooters? They knew no way in hell would the mothers allow the dads to go to Hooters. The girls sacrificed quality to get away from us. It’s how high school kids think.

I've experienced a lot of what has already been shared depending on the day and situation, but with my son graduating from HS this weekend, I look back and realize that game day feeling is one of privilege.  Having a seat to watch your child do something they truly love is a precious privilege.  About the purest form of joy I've discovered thus far.  Now I'm lucky enough that my son is getting a chance to keep playing the game post high school.  Truly blessed.

Game day always makes me happy no matter who’s playing which sport. I just love getting to see the kids out there competing and trying their hardest. The vast majority of our experiences have been fun and our kids have had more than their share of success (all three kids have HS conference championships, two have several state championships and a different two have some pretty cool NCAA runs). However, the kids have also been on two teams (one for my oldest daughter and one for my son) where they were underutilized. Those games actually felt like less stress going in as parents because we knew no matter what they did they weren’t getting a fair shake but afterwards they were harder because we had to deal with the frustration and disillusionment. All great long term lessons but those are some hard car rides sometimes!

@RJM posted:

i had my turn. It was his/her turn (daughter played softball). I didn’t get excited. I thought more about what I had to do that day to arrive on time whether it was just the work that day or catching a plane by a certain time.

When I arrived it was more about seeing the people I liked than the game. With travel I knew it was going to be an enjoyable weekend watching and dining with people I liked.

Story about dining out Saturday night ... It was 18u Gold softball. Some of the girls were old enough to drive. They decided to eat at Hooters while the parents ate at a nice restaurant. Why did the girls want to eat at Hooters? They knew no way in hell would the mothers allow the dads to go to Hooters. The girls sacrificed quality to get away from us. It’s how high school kids think.

When my son played 13u the coach had the team meet up at Twin Peaks after the game. I had never been to one and didn't know what to expect. Turns out it was lingerie night. That sure was an awkward team dinner.

No different for me than any other day.  I’m happy for him that gets to do something that he loves, but that’s no different than me being happy for my wife that she gets to go to a Yoga class, or when my older son gets to take a 3 day weekend at the beach.

Love the stories. His Mom is so nervous she can hardly stand it and his Dad paces far from everyone!

I sit and cheer for all the guys because they have been together for years on his Dads youth teams. Gonna be sad to see then graduate this Spring and move along.

But now I get to meet his new teammates and coaches and see how it goes from here!

IOWA hs bb starts in 2 weeks and I am ready to go. He is sitting at 94 velo now and his new college roommate is at 97! Fun times ahead. Can't wait.

I loved HS game days because we got to be outside watching something fun with friends.  I was somewhat stressed when he pitched, so never sat in the stands those days.  My husband was always filming on his camera, I was always worried it would jinx my son (and it was kind of "that dad" behavior), so that was some stress.  Now I'm glad we have videos of his best moments.

Private anguish, public silence, and a big hug and smile after the game.

I’m laughing at myself because my son is home for the weekend and Dad’s throwing BP and I’m just excited to shag the balls that went over the fence.

I am fine, wife not so much. I am still trying figure out a diplomatic way to sit by myself that will not end up with me sleeping on the couch

As you can tell from the thread I just started I am currently in pitcher parent agony.  My wife calms me down.  But we both yearn for the days we had when our older two boys were in the outfield and I only freaked out 3 or 4 times a game.

My smart watch records my game-watching as cardio exercise due to my heart rate when my kids pitch. Best exercise plan ever.

Once again, this goes back to having been there, done it. I went to the mound from LL through high school believing I was invincible. In college the one year I pitched (was recruited as an outfielder and played there four years) in relief I believed I belonged there. I wasn’t successful every game. But I believed I would be.

My son pitched from LL through high school. I felt the same way about him. I felt he could dominate every time he went to the mound.

If you’re a dominant pitcher, most of the time you’re the windshield. But no matter how good you are every once in a while you’re the bug. It’s why sports have averages.

https://youtu.be/q_rbjg2k6cI

Not necessarily anxious on HS game days unless it was a regular season game against a rival or playoffs.

Probably the most anxiety was when son came to bat in the bottom of the 7th, 2 outs, runner on 1st, down by 1 run in the District Championship game against our arch rival.  Wife, daughters and I were extremely on edge, but he took it in stride.  Coach later said, if there was any kid that wanted to be in that position, it was our son.

BTW - he came through with an RBI double that went deep into the LF corner that tied the game.  As he approached 2nd base he was pumping his fist.  It was the only time he had ever showed emotion on the field.  His team went on to win in the 8th.

That Feeling When Your Kid DOESN'T Have A Game Today

I love reading these post. It’s funny, as I was getting ready this morning to take my kid to the park, I was thinking the exact same thing. It’s really good to hear everybody’s responses. I think I have more anxiety than I did when I played.

Game days-I'm nervous as a long tailed cat  in a room full of rocking chairs.

I enjoy practices more than games-no pressure.

I enjoy watching other kids, that i know, more than my son-no anxiety.

But that feeling when my son's pitching and Strikes out the side, or hits a double while batting-there's no words for it  !!!!!!

Plus , i get to re-live and re-tell that moment, that inning, that hit , that game-multiple times( to the annoyance of my family ,friends , and strangers). Now that's a great feeling!