It’s been just about 3 years now that my handsome boy has been involved in sporting activities. While I’m not a pro, I’ve picked up many tidbits and things that seem to work when it comes to being “Team Mom”.
I recall when my kids were smaller, friends asking when we would start getting the kids involved in sports. Would we be take on the roles as coach and team mom since my husband coaches at the high school level. In the same breath, these folks would try to steer me clear of being team mom. Apparently MANY have had bad personal experiences in the past with their teams, and I’m realizing this is a common trend, unfortunately.
The first year my son was a part of our local Little League, our game plan was to sit back and help out when needed. I wanted to get a “feel” of the team, the dynamics of the parents as well as the players. Luckily we struck gold! This group of parents had previously had a bad experience of a team mom who sole the team money and disappeared. The coach, being an uncle or grandfather – and related to the team mom, didn’t even have their own child on the team. It was all kinds of strange. So, these parents stepped up, banded together and took on these roles – as a team.
It seemed like overkill when I was told that we had 3 team moms, and 2 coaches, but in actuality, everyone took on an individual task, and asked the rest of the parents who were willing to share in the responsibilities too. As an open, friendly group of families, everyone had a buy in making it a great environment for our boys as we all grew as friends.
Today, we’re on our 3rd season and most of us are still together, keeping our boys (and girls) together as well, in not only baseball, but soccer too. So to these awesome families, I thank them for helping develop these Tips on Being a Great Team Mom:
- Communication – There is typically a lot of information that needs to go out to the families. Get as much information as possible into as little emails as possible or even a quick text with the details seems most effective.
- Ask For Help – There are lots of responsibilities, ask fellow parents to help out. The worst they can do is say NO. We set up tasks families could sign up for:
- Communication
- Fundraising
- Snack/Snack Bar Scheduling
- Photographer
- Facebook/Shutterfly
- Banner
- Carnival Chair
- End of the Season Party
- Delegate – There are amazingly a lot of things that need to be done as a team mom, from fundraising, collecting money, distributing uniforms, information, questions, etc. Being able to delegate or share these tasks is quite helpful.
- Shutterfly Teams – This amazing new tool is awesome! Enter team information: contacts, game schedules, snack and snack bar schedules, etc. Shutterfly will send out email reminders for snack, game time and practice times for you automatically.
- Time Management – I’ve found that we all run out of time when getting tasks done. I like to plan as soon as I get the task. Set aside time to work on that project, like uploading pictures, when the kiddos are asleep.
- Relax and be Flexible – if something doesn’t get done – no big deal, there is always tomorrow, or someone else to help you take care of whatever job needs to be done.
Now I realize that not all teams are created equal. Like I said, we’ve been pretty lucky to find an awesome group of parents who are available and willing to help out. Just remember, it’s all for the kids, right?
