The Life of a Coach’s Wife

As the wives of coaches, we are asked to do a lot. Actually… a lot might be a bit of an understatement. 

Although never “expected” to, we make it to every home game and as many away games as possible, even if we don’t like the sport in question. We buy and wear the required gear, even if the color and style is fashion-murder, and we even deck out our kids in the team’s colors (my poor daughters have been humiliated by many a stranger as they are referred to “cute little boys”). We load half of our house (blankets, diaper bags, sweatshirts, etc.) into and then back out of our SUVs each Friday (Thursday, Saturday) afternoon or evening and we sit in the stands (in my case, hard metal stands, often covered in cold frost or, better yet, wet, heavy snow). We drag ourselves and our children to the games and sit with those little angels through meltdowns (“I’m cooooold Mommy!”), 31 trips to the bathroom (usually we just “happen” to be sitting the furthest seat possible from the facilities), and 46 trips to the concessions stand (these are inevitably timed by my precious little gems to happen as soon as we get back from the bathroom). 

We also suffer through sleepless nights, our husbands on the road for overnight or late-night games. We smile through every pregame supper, postgame get-together, tailgate party and awards banquet, even if we feel like we’re going to keel over from exhaustion. I’ve even known wives who have invited over the entire O-line of the University Football team (you know who you are!) and fed them all a hot, home-cooked meal EVERY WEEK during the season, just to make sure each and every one of the 250+ pound guys got a good meal before game day. We memorize terminology and play names that we would, otherwise, not give a care in the world about. We hang up every team picture proudly in our dens and basements and often know, on a first name basis, each and every athlete in the photo, even though our husbands call them all by their last names. All while (for many of us) working a full-time job on top of being a full-time mom. And all of that is just during the Season. 

How do we do all of this? Well… because we’re tough as nails!

This is "Coach" and I at the Denver Broncos game against the Detroit Lions 2 years ago. He is an avid Lions fan!

Please know that I am NO expert on relationships or even on being a coach's wife (I'm actually still sort of a rookie in this department). I hope that this is a place where others can relate to what I'm going through and be a place where others can come to feel connected to at least one other person who knows what they're going through. And it's a place where I can get things off my chest, which is also a plus. I hope it helps at least a couple people. :)