They come in all shapes, sizes and personalities. They come in droves every weekend to the fields. Their ages, sizes and moods all vary. But they all have one thing in common — they hate being there. But most have no choice.

Who are they? Siblings of the football players we all know and love.

Sometimes they can entertain themselves — until about halfway through the first of what could be four or five games, depending on the sport.

After that, it’s up to the parents to do the entertaining. The same parents who are there to watch their other child play.

It’s really not fair to anyone involved.

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Labor Day is one of the most popular travel team tournament weekends, so what can you do to entertain your non-playing children?

You can help alleviate the boredom if you know ahead of time that there will be other siblings of similar age and interests. For instance, bringing wiffle ball equipment or a football to toss provides something to do other than watching (as much as we think little brothers and sisters care about their older sibling playing, they really don’t).

There might be a playground, lake or other similar distraction close-by and parents can take turns supervising a group of siblings. In desperate situations a quick ride to the movie theater, mini-golf course or bowling alley in between games might be an option for those really long, hot tournament days.

And sometimes the best entertainment is to just stay home.

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I started a “tradition” this past travel baseball season of only attending one of the two days of my son’s travel baseball tournaments (our tournaments are all close enough to commute). Another parent and I — who both have younger kids at home — decided we’d split the weekends. He drives one of the days and I drive the other. This way, siblings only have to attend one of the two days.

At the end of the weekend, both families have one thing in common — they are much happier than if the entire family traveled both days, including us dads.

One of my travel hockey parents once started showing up with her four-year-old daughter for one of the two games each weekend. When asked why she was missing a game her reply was simple, “My daughter’s childhood memories are going to include more than sitting in a car traveling to watch her brother play hockey.” I thought this was an excellent motto for any sports parent to live by.

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So sometimes the best way to figure out what to do with travel player siblings is to make them a priority at least one of the weekend days whenever possible. There’s nothing wrong with making them go watch their sibling play one of the days. There’s also nothing wrong with letting them stay home on the other.

Parents make a lot of sacrifices for travel team players. It’s equally important they make the same sacrifices for siblings who aren’t.

Jon Buzby has been involved in and writing about youth sports for the past 30 years, originally as a coach and board member with his now-adult son and most recently "just as a dad" with his 9- and 11-year-old sons. Jon is an award-winning writer and his latest book, “Coaching Kids Made Easier,” is available on Amazon. Send comments or future blog topics you'd like to see to JonBuzby@hotmail.com and follow him @YouthSportsBuzz on Twitter.