Just put in those names. (His coach is probably a good name at the other end). If you need to change it, you probably can.
While this is challenge for you, I would guess it helps with trafficking cases, and you can make yourself feel better by recognizing that your compliance is helping others.
When my daughter travelled internationally as a minor we always made sure she had 3 originals of a recently dated, notarized (!), consent letter from both parents in carry-on - listing travel document numbers and origination/destination countries (plus one stashed in each peace of luggage.)
Not strictly necessary in many countries, but just compensating for the hypothetical, possibly misinformed, airline âtempâ - or over-protective immigration/customs official abroad.
See also:
CBP Customer Service .
Also, check with your countryâs state department, if they offer some sort of registration service for their overseas citizens - similar to what the U.S. offers:
https://step.state.gov/
This way your local consulate will be aware youâre living in the country and where/how to reach you in an emergency.
One time I had a business trip to Montreal. This is not all that far from where we live, and I grew up in Montreal. I drove up and started my business meetings. A few days later my wife and very young daughter (we only had one daughter back then) flew up to join me. The plan was for us to drive home together. They had trouble being allowed into Canada because the immigration people were concerned that my wife was trying to run off with our daughter. My wife did tell Canadian immigration âLook where my husband is originally from â he is waiting for us here in the airport to show us around his original home cityâ. Eventually they were allowed in. However it would have been a very good idea for me to have written and signed a letter saying that this was the plan and I was fine with my wife and daughter running off to Canada to join me.
I have wondered whether a student visa will serve a similar purpose. If the child has a student visa already approved to study at a university abroad then this sort of makes the point regarding why they are entering the country. However, having a letter signed by any non-accompanying parent would seem like a very good idea.
Decades ago, as a 13 uear old traveling alone overseas, I had a major brouhaha over the lack of such a letter.
We ended up resolving it by demonstrating that the paper ticket (remember those?) had been purchased by my father and agreeing that few runaways are funded by their parents. (Although by the end of this misadventure, I suspect the poor immigration official was thinking that my parents might indeed have paid to get rid of me!)
My brother took his daughter to the airport once to fly to Mexico, but she was actually stopping in Phoenix or some other US city and meeting her mother before continuing to Mexico, so didnât have the letter from her mother. Nope, wouldnât let her on. They had to leave airport, get a letter faxed then go the next day.
This is no longer a problem because a passport is needed. My brother took my daughter to Mexico, I had given him the letter and a copy of her birth certificate with me listed, but he didnât need it because he had the passport.
Back to the OP, for the ânameâ on the United flight into Oâhare, Iâd list the flight heâs arriving on. Thatâs how heâs getting to the airport.
Absolutely reach out to the coach. For all you know, they typically have someone on the ground, at OâHare, who will meet the flight, make sure your kid makes his connecting flight, and accompanies him all the way to campus.
If not, find out who is coordinating arrivals of the other international students.
I see student groups all the time hanging out at airport gates waiting for âthe last kid in our groupâ to arrive so they can all board the next flight together.
What a great adventure!
Thanks again for your suggestions. I think Iâm finally going to make a financial effort and accompany him to share his experience and the university.
Be aware that you wonât be sharing his experience. In all likelihood, the minute you get the final box in his room, he will desert you without so much as a backwards glance. 
Donât take it personally.
Good decision!
My own experience, which I did not include in my initial post because I didnât want it to sway you, was that traveling alone was incredibly stressful to me, so much so that the memory of it is seared into me. I also felt left out, and clearly remember tagging along with my roommateâs parents. I felt disorganized and always a half step behind.
That said, of course I survived and learned I could do it etc. And I completely understood why my parents couldnât take me, I knew money was tight. But it would have been MUCH more enjoyable to have them there!
This is true, my experience dropping my kids off at college (and one involved a flight) was we were ditched immediately after move in (fortunately we knew another set of parents for the farther move in so we had someone to eat dinner with). Definitely make the trip, but keep your expectations low. We did get to meet the roommates and their parents, but that was it. I have yet to meet a professor or staff member at their 6 universities.
I will go against the grain here, because I donât think itâs necessary for the parent to come along, especially if itâs a financial hardship.
If the university recruits athletes abroad, they will have this process down and organized. He will arrive at the school along with other athletes before regular students arrive, so it wonât be the mayhem of regular move-in day. There will be other internationals, they usually arrive earlier for a special orientation, who also come without parents.
You know your child best. If you feel the travel alone would stress him out a lot, then itâs probably good to go with him. Otherwise, he will be ok. What I would do in your situation, since your child is still 17, is to really double and triple check the paperwork and to talk to school representatives and let them walk you through the trip if he goes by himself.
For what itâs worth, I did this twice, I came to the US as an exchange student from Europe, though I was older, 19 the first time and 22 the second time. I flew by myself. Maybe because of my experience I was pretty relaxed to let my 18 year old daughter fly by herself to South America last summer. She was met at the final airport by a rep from her school but had to travel there by herself (not a direct flight).
But every kid is different and you will know best!
I thank you again for your contributions.
Another important factor is the purchase of moving belongings. Possibly we will have more peace of mind buying it at Wallmart Lincoln than sending it through Amazon
Not always. Spring and winter sports donât usually arrive early in the summer.
Itâs a good decision, I think. When my son went to the US for college, he flew from Japan by himself for a pre-orientation trip, but I joined him before the ceremony for incoming freshmen. We spent a day shopping and setting up his room before the bulk of the students arrived, and that was fun (and certainly easier than trying to order from Amazon, as you say). It was good to have a few days to get oriented, both for him and for me.
And depending on what is available near the college, sometimes itâs better to order ahead for pick up, since many stores get picked over by the end of summer.
Also, most schools have a process in place for sending boxes ahead of time and picking them up at move-in. These are intended for students who arrive by plane. The ins and outs vary by school - from restrictions on pick up time, availability of hand trucks, distance from dorms - but this can really help. Remember too that if you travel with your son and pack light, your baggage allowance can be used for his things.
None of my kids had this option unfortunately. I have a family member at Pitt, they are actually sent boxes to fill and ship, to be wait in the dorm. We just has to Amazon to the mailroom and deal with the masses at the mailroom.