Being behind your Coach

I have seen it more and more as my Coaching wife role goes on. You have to stand behind your coach. One of the hardest parts is hearing the negativity someone has for  coaches. We have gotten really good at separating our family life from team life. That does not mean that my coach doesn't care about team life. It means that he can turn off anything from work that is bothering him and be my Husband and my kids Dad! I am truly blessed to have a special coach. Now, that does not mean it always turns off. This is where a coach's wife comes into context, you might have to be that sounding board.
Sometimes your coach needs to vent and it is your job to be that sounding board. For me the hard part is separating my emotions. I want to give my advise.  I have realized is to just listen. I realized it when I heard negativity and I told him,  "Don't say anything, just listen."

He has way more experience dealing with different situations that it is not my job to give advice. I need to be a wife and stand behind my coach. This means to always support him at the games, and at home. I enjoy  the ride and have confidence in the fact that he does this profession because he cares.

The Changing of Seasons

Seasons come and seasons go. It seems that in Texas the weather can change from day to day. It can be 80F one day and 24F the next day. Sometimes it feels like that when you have a husband for a coach. Once football season ends and you think you get your weekends with your love one back, in comes basketball season. Now, basketball season is not as bad as football because normally they don't have to work on Saturday and Sunday. This might happen if a tournament is involved for a weekend. A change like the wind that does come is the schedule of events. For me the kids start to play games as well, and Varsity or JV games happen for Coach on Tuesday and Friday. If the schedule for your coach involves a lot of away games, expect to have no family dinner on those days.
So this was my schedule for this first spring sport:
Monday: Basketball practice for Kids
Tuesday: Kids alternate activities( dance, tumbling, lessons of music)
Wednesday: Church classes
Thursday: Basketball practice for Kids
Friday: Dad's basketball games
Saturday: Kids basketball games
Sunday: Church and activities related to this

So as you can see we are always busy. Now it is important to make sure you make time for each other, and your kids with their father. We try and do this through family time on Saturday afternoon, and Sunday afternoon. That is restricted to family time! It is very important to keep those date nights too!

Now the season is changing again. We are moving into track season. TRACK! Unless your coach loves track this can be a long season. This means Saturdays are back off the table. Track meets happen on Saturday. If you ever want to brave the long days you can spend some time with your honey on those track meet days, and let the kids run around the infield, but it is usually long and boring. If you get VolunTOLD to do lane timings (go for lane eight!) most of the time this lane doesn't have a runner in it. Well, depends on the school size. Smaller schools probably not, but larger schools well oh well, have fun pushing a button for many hours!
Enjoy the change of season, Especially those baseball moms and coach's wives too!
No matter how you slice it, Track, Baseball, or Golf it will still be time sacrificed for  the love of Coaching and being a Coach's Wife.

Dealing with Sickness

Blah, Uggg, Cough, Sneeze, Wheeze, Gasp! All the sounds of sickness. Being a coach's wife is not easy. It is even more difficult when sickness hits you or your family. Usually once you have the internal drive to make every game or go to work sick, you still are his number one fan. If you are a Mom, you DON'T GET SICK! I am not being sarcastic. When your the mom you can't get sick. You still have practices, classes, after school activities, church, and work. Kids still need to be fed, laundry done, baths given, homework done, and dinner cooked. It is not an easy job to be a mom, but it is the best job. 

In other words what happens when one of your mini fans goes down. I have had to battle this for about the whole month of October. My daughter and son are adjusting to a new climate and area. The allergies, climate, and school spread sickness have just come at them one week after the other. When these situations arise, your Coach will understand. Your family comes first and making them well will pay off. It gives both of you peace of mind.

You can still show that you care. Asking about practice, and how things are going are just a few little ways to show him you care. I also pay close attention to the Friday night local news. I want to always make sure that I am still involved. I also try and make treats or sweets for the Coaching staff. Kind of sending a piece of my support to the team even though I won't physically be there to cheer them on. Good Luck flu Season is upon us and so is District and Playoffs! Bundle Up, stay warm, and safe for fall football season just can't be beat!

Good Luck in District all you HS football Coach's Wives!

New Friendships

New friendships can come easy to some people. For me it is a process. I may seem open and confident on the outside, but inside I am just dying. I am awkward and it takes me a little bit to read the personality and humor of another person.

I remember starting a season of rugby in the UAE and I had a friend now that I had a "friend crush" on. That's when you click with a person and want them to be your friend but they already have a group of friends and you don't really know how to integrate yourself into the group. I really just kind of wait it out and eventually my winning personality takes over! Ha!Ha! (right Amy Hestness) Well, the best advice I can give new coach's wives or even coach's wives in a new town is make friends with the other coach's wives first, cause they know what you are going through. They know the hours your husbands put in and they know what it is like to be the household while they are working.  Then as you integrate into a community like personalities will surface and you will form new friendships. Also if you are the veteran coach's wife, have an open door policy for those new ones. It is a calling to be a coach's wife, and it is important that we support each other.

I do have advice to the town folk! Please be welcoming to the new people in town. It is hard being the new kid on the block. Also please wait till you are close with someone to divulge personal secrets.

WELCOME to the 2014 Football Season!

Two-A-Days

Two-a-days has started! YAY! It's football season! I am one of those Coach's wives that just loves this time of year! I love all the getting ready with gear and getting decked out in school colors! What do you do when it starts? 

Here is a go to list of ideas:

• Get your gear on! That means go buy a shirt or a couple in your school colors! If you live and work in the same town as your husband  coach's then just get one or two the school should be selling team support shirts and your gonna want one! 

• Get your kids gear on! I love making sure my daughter has a hair bow in the teams colors and my son has a shirt that goes the same way! We have to be decked out for our Coach! We are his number one fans!

• Get his gear on! Not all coach's are the same, but my coach loves to support his team in practice and home! He gets sunglasses that carry lenses the same color as the team color, he has the shorts, shirts, and shoes to go with it! He will get some stuff just for the coaching staff, but its always nice to start two-a-days with a little school spirit!

• Get your house in order! You never know who might show up to visit, coach from same staff, family to see a game, friends visiting to see a game, or players who just need advice from your coach.

• Get the goods! That means have snacks on hand to feed the occasional guest, coach, or team member!

• Get loud! Don't forget to get your noise maker! A cow bell can be bought at most feed supply stores, and don't forget to decorate it in the school colors!

Now once two-a-days starts you can do this stuff while he is working, and me being a teacher I am getting ready for school. If you are not an educator, a coach always needs help with his classroom. Coach's are good with kids but not so good with decorating! Help him out and set up his room with at least a decent bulletin board and a place to hold his pens! This is an exciting time because anticipation is building for the season and anything is possible. At home be encouraging and even though the separation is starting with the long work hours the reward is so fulfilling with the smile on your coach's face when he comes home talking about his team!

GOOD LUCK to all you new Coach's Wives and all the Teams out there!(can you tell we are the color purple;)

For some gear!

t-shirts,hoodies, and more                    
i phone cases, tshirts, and more

I have never used this last site, but may be nice.
custom rhinestone shirts

Two for One!

I'm Back! Been a while, but there really hasn't been much football action. Ok, so today is the two for one special! This means for those of you coaching couples that are teachers, this post is for you! Teachers that are the spouse of a coach have a unique opportunity. We get to either open the door for our spouse, or we get to tag along. I do have a few more years experience than my husband and more diverse certifications, but he does stand on his own. I have found that in TEXAS especially, if the coach gets a job, the wife usually in most cases gets one too. This was the case with us. We are moving from another country back to Texas life! Let me interject I am super excited, ok, back on track.
          My husband in a matter of two weeks, just again from people he knew, had four job offers! That is right FOUR! Right after I had the same four offers. Now this is the first time we have dealt with choosing a place. We have two children who are elementary age and at this stage in both our careers we need to stay put for a long time. So we were really praying and discerning hard on where to live. It was between a Hill Country, and if your from Texas you know this is a beautiful place to live, and West Texas, where the people are super nice. Well, we went with what suited our jobs, future plans, and our kids lives the best. We went with West Texas. Now most people from Texas would go "WHAT!" ARE YOU KIDDING!" No, we are not, but we are sound and happy with our decision. We are going into jobs we both are happy with, a home we are happy with, and we know a place our kids will be happy. Small town life is not for everyone, but I just love the community and fever football brings to a small town. My kids can run around at football games, and I don't have to worry about them, as much as I would in a big city. I will know everyone, from players, to coach's, to coach's wives, to administration in the school, and parents. This could be daunting to someone new to the coaching world, but it is a necessary part of the job. I don't mind, but it does get tough. Just remember even though the community is getting two for one special for the town, you are making memories, and a future for your family.

Belief

Merry Christmas!

I want to focus this post on belief! Belief for a family is very important. A belief system is essential to sports. For most fans it is wearing a certain outfit, or eating a certain thing. These little traditions can mean the world to a coach or fan. When my husband was coaching in a small Texas town when game day would come, he would wear the same outfit for each game. He had like five pair of khaki pants, but when the team was winning he would wear the same ones. Same difference when they would lose, he would change and say well that outfit didn't work. Besides silly little sports traditions a family needs to have their own traditions.

Traditions are so critical to a coaching family. First your coach will work many hours, and the holidays is usually your only break in the year. It means the end of football season, and the beginning of another sport like baseball, basketball, or golf. So when you know that this seasonal time is so precious, make a family tradition. I have taken some traditions that my family use to do and melded them to my family, along with adding some new ones. We always make Christmas cookies together! We always go to church Christmas Eve, and we always eat meatball sandwich's on Christmas eve (its an Italian thing). What ever it may be make a tradition or traditions for your family. These are the memories that will last forever. These are the memories that you want your children to remember and use in their own families, so that they know they are the most important reason we do what we do. That they know first comes God, then Family, then Sports ;)! Merry Christmas!