Ideas for an Olympic Trials Watch Party; Enjoy the Events With Fellow Fans!

Ideas for an Olympic Trials Watch Party; Enjoy the Events With Fellow Fans!

Maybe your preferred approach to watching the upcoming United States Olympic Trials is to view with family, the living room serving as your theater of choice. Maybe you like to watch alone, so there are no distractions, and you can focus intently on the action. Maybe you have a swim-nerd buddy with whom you’ll analyze what unfolds in Indianapolis.

What about a watch party?

It’s not unusual for people to gather in large groups to watch some of the biggest events in sports. Watch parties are popular for the Kentucky Derby. They have become commonplace for the NFL Draft. And, of course, they have long been part of American tradition in early February for the Super Bowl.

This summer, a watch party could be a fun-filled event for the Olympic Trials (and, the Olympic Games). With the nine nights of finals from Indianapolis scheduled to start at 8 p.m. (Eastern), you could lock in your nightly plans for more than a week.

Here are some ideas to add excitement to Olympic watch parties.

Who Will Gather Together?

Watch parties can vary in size, ranging from a handful of friends gathering at someone’s house to several hundred individuals getting together at their summer swim club. The key is to enjoy the festivities and performances with folks who share a love for the sport and are stoked for the excitement.

Get the Action on a Big Screen

A watch party must provide an enjoyable viewing experience, so be sure to have a respectable screen size. We’re talking about a TV that stretches across the majority of the wall! Don’t invite guests, or attend a party, where viewers will be forced to stand shoulder-to-shoulder around a small screen.

Swim clubs that hold a watch party should pursue a movie-theater experience. Set up a large screen on which the competition will be projected. Encourage viewers to bring lawn chairs and have swim-team members sit on their towels at the front of the audience. It would be cool to see these age-groupers leap to their feet as one of their favorite swimmers grabs gold in a down-to-the-wire finish and nails down a bid to the Olympic Games.

Food Frenzy

Food and drinks are expected at a watch party and all visitors should contribute by bringing a dish or beverage to the event. To add to the atmosphere, have viewers name their contribution. Kerri from down the street didn’t just bring a queso dip. She brought “Dressel Dip,” named for multi-time Olympic champion Caeleb Dressel.

Game Time

Add a level of excitement to the watch party by incorporating games or small betting opportunities. One possibility is to have the finalists from the night’s events listed on slips of paper and dropped into a basket. For $5 (or whatever amount), a viewer can blindly select one of the slips for a specific event. If their athlete wins gold, they win the pot. Or to reward more viewers, the pot can be split among those holding slips for the two qualifiers for Paris.

Dress Up

The United States Olympic Trials features the best swimmers the country has to offer, so wear your stars and stripes. Put on your red, white and blue. More, encourage younger swimmers to dress up like their favorite athlete. They could even introduce themselves as that swimmer in a pre-meet fashion show.

The U.S. Olympic Trials always produces memorable performances, with some of those efforts remembered years down the road. By attending or hosting a watch party, you’ll have the chance to share these memories with close friends and teammates.

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