Packerholic

Soon Packer fans from around the country are going to make the trek to Green Bay for training camp practices. many of the people at the practices have been there time and time again. There are quite a few fans that come for their first time though. This post is mostly for those people but it could also help fans that have been to training camp before. Here are some tips to take into consideration if you are planning on heading to training camp this year.

1. If you want a good spot to see the practice arrive at least 30 minutes before practice (if you want really good seats try 45 minutes to an hour). If you are really interested in the practice you should really want a good seat since you might not even be able to see the practice if you show up too late. If you want to be able to sit down (you definently do) during the practice you will need to arrive early or get really lucky that someone leaves early.
2. If you brought some items to get autographed you should probably bring them with you to the practice. Unless you are willing to leave practice early to get your items from the car, you won’t be able to get your items and get a good spot to get an autograph.
3. If you plan on sitting on the bleachers bring something to sit on. I don’t know if it is just me but it really isn’t that comfortable to sit on hot metal for around 2 hours. The bleachers getting really uncomfortable after sitting on them for over an hour. I have two suggestions for you. First you can simply bring a blanket to sit on. The other option is to bring along one of the Packer bleacher seat cushions if you own one.
4. Bring a hat and sunglasses. Unless you go on one of the few days that aren’t extremely sunny, you need to bring sunglasses and a hat. If you don’t you will be quickly irritated by the sun always being in your eyes.
5. Wear lighter colored clothing. Since it usually gets quite hot during practices you might as well try to keep as much heat off you as possible. Wear a lighter colored shirt so the sun is reflected off your shirt instead of being absorbed. You might think that it won’t make much difference but it truly does.
6. If you are planning on taking pictures you really need to get a spot right next to the fence. If you can’t get right up to the fence the fence will get in the way of all your pictures. If you get right up to the fence and put your lense through a hole in the fence you can get great pictures without the fence getting in your way.
7. If you are planning on going to the Packers Pro Shop either go before practice or you better be willing to wait a while after the practice. For the most part most fans usually head to the pro shop right after the practice ends. This usually creates a huge log jam and it is almost impossible to move inside the store. It is really hard to move through the store and even harder to be able to really look at any of the merchandise. So if you want to go to the Pro Shop to really look at the merchandise you better either go before the practice or at least 30 minutes after practice finishes.
8. If there is a specific hotel in the Green Bay area that you want to stay at you should book early. I doubt the hotels are always totally booked but if there really is a hotel that you want to stay at, it can’t really hurt. I know for sure that during Packer games every hotel in the Green Bay area is always booked. So if you want to stay at a hotel like the Tundra Lodge (one of the nicest hotels in the area) you can’t go wrong booking your hotel room early.
9. If you are looking for autographs and have never been to Green Bay for training camp before your best bet is to follow everyone else after practice. When practice concludes there is usually a mad dash to the stadium to get a spot to get autographs. Remember to have a sharpie and an item to sign on you. If you want more tips on getting an autograph you can check out the How to Get a Packers Autograph feature on this site.
10. Bring something to drink. You are going to be sitting in the sun for around 2 hours. You are going to get thristy. There are vendors that walk up and down the sidewalk selling beverages but why not save some money and bring your own drinks. My family and I always bring a cooler of drinks along with us.
11. Binoculars are a good option. If you want a closer look at what is going on, you can’t go wrong with binoculars. It’s not like you are a long way away from the players but you aren’t that close either. Plus if you don’t get good seats you might be away from the action a lot so you might need binoculars to see what is going on.
12. If you want to go on the fan tours you need to book early. I know that in the past the fan tours always sell out and they usually sell out pretty early. I personally have never been on the fan tours before but I have heard that if you have never been able to see the stadium and go to a game it is well worth your money. If you want to go on a fan tour you should try and get tickets as early as possible since the tours could already be sold out for the day that you were planning on going to practice.
13. As far as where to get a seat for the practice it really depends on what you want to see. The practice field is actually two fields. There is a left and right field (when looking at the practice field). If you mostly want to see the offense and team drills you should get a seat on the left practice field. Obviously don’t go all the way to the left but try to find a seat toward the middle of that field. If you mostly want defense chose the right field. If the past is any indicator the left field always attracts more fans so you will have to get to practice earlier for the left field.
14. The last couple of years one of the local papers have been giving out free papers to all visitors to training camp. This paper includes the latest edition of the paper along with a training camp insert. The training camp insert is actually very good in my opinion. It has several stories about the Packers and the best part is that it has pictures of every Packer on the roster. So if you see some player make a big play but you don’t recognize his number you could quickly look him up to see who made the big play.
15. My final tip is to be polite and courteous to your fellow fans. Everyone there is a fellow Packer fans and you need to treat them with respect. Some of these people have traveled a long way to be able to see the practice so you need to give them some respect since they are obviously big fans if they are willing to travel that far to see a practice. Feel free to talk with the other Packer fans sitting by you since you might get some very interesting stories about the Packers out of them since there is a large variety of different fans that go to the practice every year.