So I’m sitting here scrolling through my phone last Tuesday morning, just killing time before work, and this email pops up from the Clemson athletic department. Subject line screaming “BASEBALL CAMP REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!” My kid’s been nagging me about baseball camp since last season ended, so I click faster than a fastball down the middle.
The Initial Hunt
Opened the email expecting a big shiny button saying “SIGN UP HERE” – nope. Just a wall of text about camp dates and how “transformative” the experience would be. Had to scroll down forever just to find where to actually register. Not cool, Clemson. Finally spotted some tiny blue letters saying “Online Registration Portal” at the bottom.
Website Wrestling
Clicked through and bam – hit with one of those godawful sports camp platforms. You know the type: looks like it was designed in 2005. First thing? Making me create yet another account. Username, password, security questions… Why does my kid need baseball instruction from a camp that makes me answer “What was your first pet’s name?” to watch 12-year-olds field grounders? Total overkill.
After finally logging in, had to navigate this ridiculous menu:
- Parent/Guardian Info: Typed in all my contact details for the fifth time this month
- Emergency Contacts: Had to call my sister to get her new phone number
- Medical History: You try remembering if your kid’s last tetanus shot was March or April
The Payment Nightmare
Got to the payment section and almost choked – $495 for three days! Plus a “processing fee” of $29.95 that magically appeared. Had to run to grab my wallet because of course I didn’t have my credit card memorized. Typed it all in carefully, hit submit… and got that spinning wheel of death.
Screen froze completely. No confirmation, no nothing. Panic set in. Did it charge me? Did the registration go through? Refreshed the page and got an error message. Had to restart the whole freaking process from scratch. Second time around, made sure to take screenshots after each step like some paranoid detective building a case file.
Crossing the Finish Line
Finally got a confirmation email around lunchtime – came to my spam folder naturally. Double-checked the dates: July 15-17 at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. Now my kid’s bouncing off the walls telling all his friends he’s gonna train where the Clemson Tigers play. Meanwhile I’m just praying they actually have decent AC in those dorms because South Carolina in July? Yeah.
Biggest takeaways from this circus:
- Clear your schedule: This took me two full coffee cups worth of time
- Have documents ready: Insurance cards, shot records, grandma’s phone number
- Patience pays off: Almost rage-quit when the payment froze
Seriously though, if your kid lives for baseball? Might be worth the headache. But man, they need to fire their web developer.