Any suggestions for gifts for the student who will be competing in college? Are there essentials (or non-essentials) for travel or for another part of a college athlete’s day that might make a good gift? We have one in college so know the drill for the dorm room etc., but the needs/wants of a college athlete are new to us.
Thank you!
Bose Quiet Comfort 25 (noise cancelling) headphones. Great for travel AND studying. Bought them for our daughter and she loves them.
Good headphones, definitely. Also charging “bricks” for the phone and laptop. Food. Lots and lots of food 
Gift cards for GNC.
DVDs of favorite movies to watch on long bus rides (when they are done studying of course!)
Things for the bus rides - headphones, pillows, blanket, entertainment depending on what the student can tolerate as far as reading while moving (mine can’t), a tablet is easier than a laptop. Mine asked for prewrap this year and it was cheaper to send her a case, so she now has a lifetime supply in a rainbow of colors.
Some teams give a lot of clothing, others not so much. My daughter doesn’t like the cleats the team provides, so she still buys her own ($125). She also wants a special mouth guard ($100).
Definitely a pocket phone charger for when they travel. Ditto on the headphones. My son loves this personal care tote from LL Bean http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/73889?feat=514033-GN3&page=personal-organizer-toiletry-bag-small. It’s great to keep packed and ready to go for travel.
Great ideas, everyone, thank you!
My kid had Bose earphones and told his brother to get sturdier ones to survive bus trips–he said get the kind that musicians use in the studio.
The lists above are great. I’ll add gift cards to Panera or another shop serving bagels/bready stuff that they can grab before early morning work outs, when the cafeteria is still closed.
Beats are the headphones of choice from what I have seen. My kid has put his through the ringer over the last few years of getting tossed in work out bags or on bus trips with the team.
You might check what the team is required to wear when they travel. My son’s team traveled in suits or jackets and tie. An extra set of traveling clothes in this case was a good idea. And yes – headphones, traveling study helpers etc. The parent group generally provided box lunches for the bus ride back to campus – as well as a hot post game meal. I know these things were much appreciated. (You might want to plan for some of that sort of thing in your budget – it ran us $300-500/year)
Any suggestions on a recording device to use for missed classes while traveling? Is that kosher? It would be much more helpful for my daughter than just looking at a classmate’s notes.
One thing my daughter did for a classmate in a fall sport (hers is spring) was to ‘teach’ him what he missed. It was great for her as often she realized she didn’t quite have all the info down either. I don’t know if the professor would allow another student to video the class on a tablet, but that would be great. Obviously he’d have to find someone in each course to do this, but as I said my daughter was happy to do it as it helped her too.
As a college teacher, I can weight in on the recording issue. It’s important to go to office hours (rather than ask at the end of class when the teacher is distractedly gathering materials and fielding questions) and ask the teacher’s permission to record. I think most teachers would be fine with it as long as they know it’s happening–and he/she might well just point your student to other resources to help her stay on top of class.
As far as what device to use, most kids just use their phones.