I looked up from my phone as the car made one last slow turn to find myself at Fredericksburg High School’s football stadium. It’s the third stadium we have seen on this trip having turned off the highway twice to “check out the facilities.” Romance, ladies, with a capital R.
Coaching is a funny world. It is such a public profession with intense public interest that it can’t help but carry some misconceptions and stereotypes. As coach’s wives, we navigate statements regularly that leave us saying, “Huh?” or scratching our (very tired) heads. So, we figured we would offer the truth rather than assume the …
When it comes to celebrating a coaching milestone, many coaches’ wives are left wondering how to honor a milestone without going overboard. How do you celebrate these occasions? Are gifts expected? What are the appropriate milestones? First head coaching position, 50th or 100th win? Do we celebrate retirement or is this a time to mourn? …
We all know that men and women “speak different languages” but coaches, well…they take it to a new level. Hopefully, this glossary will help you understand “coach speak” a bit better. Coach Speak Decoded When Coach says: Practice will be done at 5:30. Translated: You won’t see him till 7:00 or after. 5:30 means they …
We have all been there. We have heard the complaints from the stands. We have read the negative comments on the school’s social media page (Pro tip: keep scrolling). And last but not least, we hear it from our husbands. Like the time the new head coach deciding to meet on Sundays…during church *facepalm*. Or …
When you walked down the aisle that hot summer day, your thoughts were of the impossibly handsome man standing in front of you, certainly not of the demands of baseball season breathing down your neck while the football hat still hangs on the banister. Exhausted, lonely, tired- the wife of a coach of many sports. …
Go out of your way to make others feel welcome, valued, and seen. Stop focusing so much on who is leaving you out or what group you want to be part of. Some girl is thinking that same thing and wishing she could be included with you.
A couple of days ago I was unbuckling our oldest when she looked up at me and said, “Daddy’s never coming back.” “What?” I was so confused. Then through tear-filled eyes, she whispered, “He’s always at work.” My heart broke into a million pieces. It was true. He had just worked a 90+ hour week …
Truthfully, dad can’t do all this work on his strength alone. But we are lending him to God to use in the lives of the players, coaches, and our hometown this season. And we are trusting God to move mountains.
I have always found it frustrating to not get to where I want to be, with new friends, with the new house, in the new community, immediately. I also fall victim to always comparing my brand new beginning to the well developed ending that just occurred. I’ve learned that I need to be patient and realistic. It takes time to get where I would like to be, usually years.
So, whether we go to a cookout, munch on samples at Costco, or even vacation across international waters, he’s almost always guaranteed to be wearing at least one high school football item.
Give it time. You are going to fall more and more in love with this life than you ever knew was possible.
I want my children to learn through you that one person can make a difference and that the most effective way to lead is not through words, but through one’s actions.
I didn’t know Coach’s role would change unexpectedly and shake up our lives drastically. But some of you had experienced that before.
I didn’t know that we would watch each sport shut down, one-by-one. But even when the stadiums emptied, there you were.
Some lost seasons. Some lost jobs. Many wrestled with their mental health and moves and the new normal. But we didn’t face these things alone. But we figured it out together.
You see I never thought the small town we landed in would end up being a place where we had to worry about the politics of coaching. We were wrong.
Yes, football and being a football family requires physical demands and emotional commitments from everyone involved. There are so many lonely dinners and difficult bath times. There are so many rushed labor-day cookouts and daddy-less trick-or-treats. There are so many tears from kids who miss their daddies -- and occasionally from mamas missing them too. Because there may not be crying in baseball, but believe me, there is crying in football. A lot of crying.
But most of those tears are the good kind.
But there is a difference between being familiar with a community and feeling at home isn’t there? Familiarity allows us a certain level of safety, but when we are at home we can rest.
You do not have to do this coaches’ wife thing alone. There are many who have walked before you, and there are many who walk alongside your journey. Embrace your title; it’s part of your calling.
It may be bittersweet, but sometimes change opens up a whole new happiness for you that you weren’t anticipating.
It’s the middle of the season. The excitement and novelty of a new season and new team has died down. We’re not yet to the playoffs when the whole town is vibrating with pride and bleeding school colors. District games are underway and tensions are high with so many must-win games up ahead. Your husband’s …
