Tailgaters form "big fraternity of parents"

The U of C football team may run on brains and brawn—but it gets an extra kick from Mom and Dad.

The dedicated parents of the U of C football team tailgate each game, home or away, and many fly across the country each weekend to watch the Maroons play.

Joan Meckelberg, whose son Brandon is a third-year on the team, began coordinating the tailgates more formally this year over email. She ordered a parents’ banner to hang at each tailgate and soon, the same white tent full of dedicated parents became a fixture at each game. This year, between 50 and 80 U of C football parents attended the pregame tailgates.

“We travel each weekend to the games and we see the same people. We talk football,” said Deborah Shelton of North Carolina, whose son Kevin is third-year on the team. “We’ve become a big fraternity of parents.”

At the final home game against rival Carnegie Mellon, parents hung pictures of the 14 fourth-years, signed by friends and teammates, on the fence of Stagg Field. The signatures are a reminder of the close network four years on the team creates.

Four years ago, as the players picked out Maroon jerseys, their parents followed them from the high school sidelines to the stands of Stagg Field. Now, for their parents, it is the end of a chapter.

Meckelberg organized corsages for the parents of graduating players. “This is the last time a lot of their sons will take the field and they’ve been playing since they were kids,” she said. “It can be a day of mourning.”

For Steve Cisneros, his son Keigan’s last game was more sweet than bitter. “It’s great because we know that when he graduates, he comes out with an education from Chicago,” he said.
At the start of the season, the New York Times profiled the team’s comeback from the days of the Big Ten and the first Heisman Trophy winner to the program’s dissolution in 1939. In the 1960’s, the program returned, this time smaller and in Division III.

Parents sat in the stands that September morning, rushing to read the article on their smart phones before the game began. But Meckelberg said the New York Times profile left out the biggest challenge for the team—balancing the academic rigor of the U of C with the grueling schedule of the football team.

Other parents agreed that four years on the football team while earning a degree from the U of C teaches key skills like time management.

“We believe that if they can find a happy balance between these two demanding aspects now, they will have absolutely no problem in professional life dealing with the stress, deadlines, and responsibilities that a career will demand,” Meckelberg said.

The program runs seven days a week and, with the fast pace of the quarter system, Meckelberg said playing on a traveling team is especially challenging for the U of C team.
“If you ask them, they wouldn't change a thing.  They love the game and the sacrifices are worth it,” she said.

The original U of C stadium seated 55,000 while Stagg Field has room for 1,600 fans. Still, the fans of the football team are still bringing the same Big Ten enthusiasm to each game.

“It’s the same experience of any college football game,” said first-year player Isaac Stern whose parents have attended every game this season. “You can get that same atmosphere, no matter the size of the stadium.”

With the end of the football season, the parents plan to keep in touch over email with plans to welcome in a new batch of first-years and their parents to the U of C football family next season.

Story & photos by Amy Myers, '13, Parents New Media Editor.