Children believe that their parents have eyes in the back of their heads, and seem to be in two places at once.
For Holly and Kevin Kellerman, they wish that could be true.
Parents of three multiple-sport Crawfordsville High School student-athletes over the past few years, they have had more than a lot of schedules to balance and games to attend.
From Will, who graduated last spring, through Lauren, a current senior, and on to Alex, a sophomore, there have been plenty of evenings or weekends where more than one child is playing, and playing at the same time on a different court or field, or even playing in a different city.
What is a mom and dad to do?
For the Kellermans — seniority rules.
“When there is a conflict, we go to the older one’s game,” Holly said, waiting for Alex to make an appearance in the Athenians junior-varsity basketball game, which was followed by Lauren’s varsity game (she is a starter), which was followed by the boys varsity game, where Alex comes in off the bench.
In the girl-boy doubleheaders, the usual process is for the boys jv game to be played in an auxiliary gym during the girls varsity game, so that has split Mom and Dad up or kept them moving between gyms.
Which is small potatoes compared to spring sports, when time gets split between softball and baseball fields, and more cities.
“At the baseball/softball facilities, I try to find the best spot to be able to see both games,” Kevin said. “At some conference schools, there are places to see both, but like at Tri-West, I have to go back and forth. Danville and Lebanon is too far apart. At North once, we had Alex playing JV baseball, Lauren playing softball and Will playing varsity baseball on three fields. That was a challenge.”
For the last three spring sports seasons, Kevin has found a unique perch at the Athenian Complex. He can often be found standing in the top row of the visitors bleachers down the right field line — giving him a clear view of both the softball field on one side and the baseball field on the other.
“With the spring sports, I would try and catch whoever was at-bat” Dad said. “You’d be amazed at how many times my kids came up at the same time!”
There is the occasional miss, though.
“I missed Will’s first high school home run last spring in Danville,” Holly said.
There are the time and location issues of high school games, but the Kellermans have gotten used to that.
“This goes back to the kids’ early years, probably 15 years,” Holly said. “As far back as when they played at the Boys and Girls Club. There was also club and off-season team games.”
In those earlier years, Kevin was also coaching, which didn’t make things easier, but determined where the parents would go.
“I coached Will at everything, even some Indiana Thunder baseball,” Kevin said, “and Alex when he was younger. I coached Lauren in T-ball and Little League baseball but never basketball.”
As the kids got older, however, the dad-coaching ended.
“I coached the boys a lot when they were little,” Kevin said. “As they got older I decided I couldn’t coach them. I wanted to be a parent.”
Holly never got the coaching itch — she just liked being a mom.
“We have three straight-A students,” she proudly added. “That helped a lot too.”
She also likes the girl stuff a bit.
“I like the daughter stuff – making treats for the team, decorating locker rooms, dress-up days,” she said.
The 15 years of getting kids to and from not just games, but all the practices, and then all the travel to those games and to the many off-season tournaments and events, was no small task.
“When the kids were younger, we relied on grandparents more,” Holly said. “Things had to be more regimented than now when they are older. We have had to rely on parents or friends a few times too, usually involving travel teams, but sometimes just to get kids to or from games. There was a national basketball tournament where Lauren had to stay with a coach. With the travel teams, there would be times we would drop kids off, and other times we took kids with us. All the favors got returned over time. The 2018-19 school year was special because everyone was in high school together. They had a lot of common experiences to share and had more chances to be together. The boys got to practice together too.”
But time is the final factor, as Will has graduated, Lauren has one spring sport left, which will leave only Alex to follow. If Lauren goes on to play a college sport, who knows. “We would try to get to as many games as we could,” Kevin said.
“It all goes by so fast — they will all be out of school soon enough,” Holly added.
“Last year we went to 7-8-11 games a week,” Kevin said. “When we have a night without a game, it kind of stinks...”
They wear Blue and Gold of CHS, but at the bottom line, it’s Mom and Dad.
“I just enjoy watching my kids play,” Kevin said. “Whatever game they are playing is the most important game in town. It sure is fun! Holly and I feel very fortunate to have been a part of more than one of those special teams where not only the players love to be around each other, but the parents and grandparents enjoy each other. Those memories and friendships that our kids, Holly and I formed will last a lifetime. When it’s all over, we will miss watching the kids compete, but at the same time we’re very excited to see what the future has in store for them.”
All-seeing and ever-present parents.
What more could a kid ask for?
