Former Street Kid Player Nutting Topic
of Local Tribune Story
of Local Tribune Story
by Howard Dukes
Tribune Staff Writer
An athletic field is the one place where a dad is most
conspicuous by his presence — or his absence.
Alan Nutting knows.
He was raised by a single mother after his father left
when he was a small child. His dad lived in Michigan
when Alan was growing up, but Alan rarely saw him.
As Alan grew older, his focus and energies went into playing baseball. He was good enough at the game to
play baseball for Adams High School.
Still, Alan admits it hurt to not have his father in the bleachers on game day.
“I would see the other kids’ dads there, and they would be giving (their sons) high-fives,” Alan says.
“My mom was there, but that’s not the same as having your dad there,” he adds.
Like many men who are raised in single-parent homes, Alan, who lives in South Bend, decided he would not
be an absentee father.
“I (never) wanted to get a divorce but knew that if it did happen, I was going to do all I could to be with my
kids.”
Garrett Rogers, who also lives in South Bend, was raised in a two-parent home. He had plenty of friends,
though, who had little or no contact with their fathers.
“I didn’t want (my own child) to grow up like that,” he says.
Yet, Alan and Garrett could have become estranged from their children. Both are divorced. Alan has joint
custody of Coty, 15, Braidon, 11, and Alexis, 9. Garrett is the custodial parent of Jeanette, 15.
In anticipation of Father’s Day, both dads recently took time to reflect on the challenges and joys of being
single men determined to stay involved in the lives of their children.
Coach dad
In a way, it’s surprising to see Alan on a soccer field instructing players on how to kick the ball to a
teammate. Alan didn’t play the game in high school.
“As a kid, we all kicked balls around,” Alan recalls. “So I knew that much.”
Still, when the YMCA needed coaches for the youth soccer league, Alan didn’t hesitate. He read books and
surfed the Internet to find information about soccer rules.
Why?
“Because of my kids,” Alan says.
All three of them played soccer at one time. Coty played youth soccer before becoming a wrestler at Riley
High School. Braidon and Alexis both play soccer on the YMCA team their dad coaches.
Still, Alan knows being a noncustodial parent means he must make the most of his time with them.
He and his former wife, Hope, work together closely when it comes to raising their children.
“My ex is very good,” he says. “She doesn’t keep the kids from me, and I see them a lot.
“I mean, I will pick them up from school when she goes out of town for work — or sometimes, just for
nothing.”
“I just want to make sure that when I have them I don’t have anything else going on,” Alan adds.
“It’s all about them. We go out to eat and to a movie, or I take them to the park.”
Braidon knows this: that his dad wants the time they spend together to be family time.
“I have a lot of friends who live by my dad, but (I rarely see them) because my dad says he wants to spend
this time with us,” Braidon says.
Alan believes memories of the pain and insecurity he felt growing up without his father motivates him to be
there for his children.
“Growing up as a kid, you always wanted acceptance, whether it was from your father, your grandfather or
whoever,” Alan says. “And I never really had that.”
He doesn’t want Coty, Braidon and Alexis to experience that kind of insecurity, so he tries to attend their
games and recitals.
That’s not always easy.
Coty is a wrestler at Riley and a member of the band. In addition to playing soccer, Braidon acts in plays
and sings in the choir at LaSalle Academy. Alexis sings in the choir at Hay Primary Center.
Alan sometimes attends a school event on the southeast side of town and then has to drive to the northwest
side to attend another activity.
“I don’t really think about it,” Alan says.
“If you have to drive to another state to see them, you would do that for your kids.”
Al Nutting is still active with Street Kids Care, the charitable division of Street Kids Softball, and can
be reached at bigalnut@yahoo.com.
Tribune Staff Writer
An athletic field is the one place where a dad is most
conspicuous by his presence — or his absence.
Alan Nutting knows.
He was raised by a single mother after his father left
when he was a small child. His dad lived in Michigan
when Alan was growing up, but Alan rarely saw him.
As Alan grew older, his focus and energies went into playing baseball. He was good enough at the game to
play baseball for Adams High School.
Still, Alan admits it hurt to not have his father in the bleachers on game day.
“I would see the other kids’ dads there, and they would be giving (their sons) high-fives,” Alan says.
“My mom was there, but that’s not the same as having your dad there,” he adds.
Like many men who are raised in single-parent homes, Alan, who lives in South Bend, decided he would not
be an absentee father.
“I (never) wanted to get a divorce but knew that if it did happen, I was going to do all I could to be with my
kids.”
Garrett Rogers, who also lives in South Bend, was raised in a two-parent home. He had plenty of friends,
though, who had little or no contact with their fathers.
“I didn’t want (my own child) to grow up like that,” he says.
Yet, Alan and Garrett could have become estranged from their children. Both are divorced. Alan has joint
custody of Coty, 15, Braidon, 11, and Alexis, 9. Garrett is the custodial parent of Jeanette, 15.
In anticipation of Father’s Day, both dads recently took time to reflect on the challenges and joys of being
single men determined to stay involved in the lives of their children.
Coach dad
In a way, it’s surprising to see Alan on a soccer field instructing players on how to kick the ball to a
teammate. Alan didn’t play the game in high school.
“As a kid, we all kicked balls around,” Alan recalls. “So I knew that much.”
Still, when the YMCA needed coaches for the youth soccer league, Alan didn’t hesitate. He read books and
surfed the Internet to find information about soccer rules.
Why?
“Because of my kids,” Alan says.
All three of them played soccer at one time. Coty played youth soccer before becoming a wrestler at Riley
High School. Braidon and Alexis both play soccer on the YMCA team their dad coaches.
Still, Alan knows being a noncustodial parent means he must make the most of his time with them.
He and his former wife, Hope, work together closely when it comes to raising their children.
“My ex is very good,” he says. “She doesn’t keep the kids from me, and I see them a lot.
“I mean, I will pick them up from school when she goes out of town for work — or sometimes, just for
nothing.”
“I just want to make sure that when I have them I don’t have anything else going on,” Alan adds.
“It’s all about them. We go out to eat and to a movie, or I take them to the park.”
Braidon knows this: that his dad wants the time they spend together to be family time.
“I have a lot of friends who live by my dad, but (I rarely see them) because my dad says he wants to spend
this time with us,” Braidon says.
Alan believes memories of the pain and insecurity he felt growing up without his father motivates him to be
there for his children.
“Growing up as a kid, you always wanted acceptance, whether it was from your father, your grandfather or
whoever,” Alan says. “And I never really had that.”
He doesn’t want Coty, Braidon and Alexis to experience that kind of insecurity, so he tries to attend their
games and recitals.
That’s not always easy.
Coty is a wrestler at Riley and a member of the band. In addition to playing soccer, Braidon acts in plays
and sings in the choir at LaSalle Academy. Alexis sings in the choir at Hay Primary Center.
Alan sometimes attends a school event on the southeast side of town and then has to drive to the northwest
side to attend another activity.
“I don’t really think about it,” Alan says.
“If you have to drive to another state to see them, you would do that for your kids.”
Al Nutting is still active with Street Kids Care, the charitable division of Street Kids Softball, and can
be reached at bigalnut@yahoo.com.
Former Street Kids softball player Al Nutting was the
topic of a story published in the South Bend Tribune on
Thursday, focusing on single fathers. Nutting, who finds
time to play softball with a local church team, is a single
father of three. The story from Howard Dukes is below.
topic of a story published in the South Bend Tribune on
Thursday, focusing on single fathers. Nutting, who finds
time to play softball with a local church team, is a single
father of three. The story from Howard Dukes is below.
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