Family support is crucial to student athletes

Many athletes thrive on the support from their families as they pursue the sport they love on college level at Nicholls State University.

It’s no surprise that parents are a big deal to Colonel Athletics considering the amount of local talent existing in and around Thibodaux which is then fed into Nicholls. When local talent is supported by parents who can make regular appearances at games and events, the atmosphere becomes transformed.

“We love local talent, we’d fill our roster with it if we could,” head volleyball coach Tommy Harold said.

According to volleyball player Emily Weimer, parental support adds to home field advantage.

“It means the world to me,” Weimer said. “There’s nothing better than looking in the stands and seeing your parents at every home game and basically every away game,” “It’s also awesome to see family and friends at home games.”

Sydney Lerille, a junior from Raceland, said that even when her family gets on her nerves, they are still worth keeping around. Looking back at her choice to attend the University of West Alabama where she played volleyball for a year, she missed the support of her parents at all of her games. Lerille now advocates sticking closer to home where one can enjoy the support of parents amidst a college sport.

“I would tell people to stay local because even though some family could get annoying, family is forever and it is nice to be driving distance from them,” Lerille said.

Freshman soccer player Jeanne Harson from Houma said that although her parents probably don’t need to attend every single soccer game, it’s easy for them to come and support her so they do, and that makes all the difference.

While it seems like many students are eager to “fly the coop” and live college life far away from their homes and families, having Mom and Dad on the sideline really does have a positive effect on Nicholls athletes.