attend a practice session

[joham]

We attend school to study our subjects. But when we attend a football game, we go and watch it. We do not take part in it as players. Then what about 'attend a practice session'? Is this a correct phrase, meaning a player taking part in their training classes?

Many thanks in advance.

[JohnParis]

A practice session is when the team practices with itself. Half of the team will oppose the other half and play the game.
When you watch (or attend) a practice session, you are watching the team play against itself for practice.

[SoothingDave]

The players would be practicing. A player would not say "I am going to attend a practice session." He would say "I'm going to practice."

[joham]

My friend pointed out to me that 'a player can attend a practice session'. He searched the google books and got this result: (by putting in "started attending the practice sessions")

http://www.google.com.hk/search?hl=z....0.oIWHBvBnL_k

What does "started attending the practice sessions" sound to you in this context?

Thank you again.

[5jj]

I agree with John; I do not agree with Dave. I think that you can attend a practice session.

[joham]

I searched the google books and found only one book with 'athletes attend the Olympic games' :

Living

books.google.com.hkThurman Brooks Rice - 1940 - 464 页 - 阅读内容摘录 It is said that when American athletes attend the Olympic games they do nothing but train; they do not attempt to do any sight-seeing and live very unnatural lives until after the games at least. The athletes of other countries who have ...

[5jj]

We have been talking about a practice session, not the Olympic Games.

[joham]

Thank you a lot for your attention to my questions, 5jj. In the last posting do you mean athletes can attend (meaning take part in) a practice session, but not attend (meaning take part in) the Olympic Games? and in

'It is said that when American athletes attend the Olympic games they do nothing but train' the 'attend' means 'watch'?

Thank you again.

[joham]

The following paragraph is taken from a book written by a native speaker. Could you tell me if the 'attending' is correctly used (clearly with the meaning of 'taking part in', not 'watching')?
Getting up the courage to go to the tryouts was only the half of it! When I first started attending the practice sessions, I didn’t even know the rules of the game, much less what I was doing. Sometimes I’d get confused and take a shot at the wrong direction—which made me feel really stupid. fortunately, I wasn’t the only one “new” at the game, so I decided to focus on learning the game, do my best at each practice session, and not be too hard on myself for the things I didn’t know “just yet”.


Please forgive me for keeping asking questions about this use of 'attend', because I'm not completely clear about it. Many many thanks in advance.

[Barb_D]

If an athlete attends a practice session or the Olympic games, you can bet he or she participates. If a non-athlete attends, you can bet he or she watches.

The word can mean either one.