#coltscamp 2015

When I realized a birthday party with friends was not going to work out this summer for Aaden, I told him we could either wait and try to do one after school had started, or he could pick a fun family trip instead. He chose fun family trip, and at my suggestion, he agreed that heading out to Indy for Colts training camp was an excellent idea.

If you’ve never been to Anderson for training camp, there are some things to be aware of. As I mentioned in a previous post, my sister and I had gone several years prior, so I sort of knew the lay of the land. Parking in Anderson is on campus. When we had gone earlier, I’m pretty sure we paid $15-20 to park. Sometime in the span between then and now, they regulated the parking at made it $5. This was awesome. We had to walk the equivalent of a couple blocks, but they had golf carts running the whole time for people who needed assistance, and port-a-potties around the route. If you go on an “event day” like kids day or BBQ Bash day, it is possible they will run out of parking (they did this year), so be sure to get there early. A bonus of getting there early, the players apparently have a little free time, because we saw Coby Fleener riding around on a golf cart (largely unnoticed without any football gear on), and E waved and said hi. Fleener waved and said hi back! E had no idea, of course, he told me he was “wavin’ to the people.” The translation of the video at the top of the post is E, excited to be heading into training camp, telling SnapChat that we're gonna "Go see the Colts!"

Colts City opens about an hour and a half prior to practice starting, so we showed up right at 12:30 in our Colts gear. There was plenty of stuff to do until practice started. They had a full pro shop set up, tons of booths from vendor types, autographs from cheerleaders, inflatables, an NFL Play 60 zone where you could test your football skills, and all kinds of snacks for purchase. A declared the snow cone one of his favorite parts of the trip, but they also gave away free ice cream at one station!

We camped out along the fence in the end zone for practice, because there was a little more space, and it was close to the entrance/exit where they players would arrive and depart. This can sometimes be a good place for post-practice autographs, though those are really hit or miss.

R said she loved the whole training camp experience – despite the fact that it was long (although she pointed out that her practices are longer) and hot. Once again, my kids impressed me with how patient and well-behaved they were. E entertained himself with rocks and water bottles all afternoon while the rest of us watched the team workout. Side note, there is not a ton of shade in the sports complex, so be sure to pack plenty of sunscreen and water!

After practice, if you’re lucky, you’ll get some autographs. Remember E’s previous interaction with TE Coby Fleener? Well this time, as the players walked off the field and E practiced his stellar parade wave, Adam Vinatieri noticed him and made a beeline right for E to ask for a high five and to sign his ball. Vinatieri was a class act, taking it all in stride – you could tell he’s a veteran with 20 training camps under his belt! He even managed to return every marker he used to sign to its rightful owner. After kind of a long wait, and a couple tears that they’d only gotten one autograph (E got two), we noticed Coach Pagano still hadn’t left the field. A few die hards, ourselves included, were still waiting around, and even though the golf cart driver told the fans it was time to go, Coach hopped off the cart and started signing. We seemed to keep missing him, and the driver said that they really needed to leave, and my kids were looking a little sad again, when some guy standing next to us said, “Coach, how about these kids right here?” Coach Pagano came back for one more set of autographs for R and A – totally making their day!

Next time we’ll probably come a little later in the day, though that would mean parking farther away, but practice got a little long for the kids. If it wasn’t the sole reason we’d come we maybe could have cut it a little shorter, but since it was the purpose of our trip, it seemed like a good idea to get the most out of it.