Meet my friend, Dana Yu.
Dana works full time as a cell biologist and vice president of research and development for a biotechnology company.
She has another role, but it could be her real full-time job.
My husband is a sports mom. To my wife and I, Dana is the ideal sports mom. You may also know someone like her. She's the team mom, she brings everyone together and wears many hats.
She wipes her nose, dispels her children's doubts, cheers loudly, but knows when to shut up and offer an arm or shoulder for support. Not only does she multitask, but making it look effortless seems to be in her DNA.
“She's doing so much that I really can't keep up,” says Dana's husband, Chris Antrick. “My husband tells me where and when she should go.”
Dana has worked as a Little League official, scorekeeper, team event coordinator, video streamer, first aid provider (“I always have a first aid kit ready!” she says), assistant coach, and many more. It is considered an unofficial position.
Most of all, Dana is rooting for their sons, Caius, 15, and Marcus, 14, and all the boys on the Northern Virginia baseball team.
“What I love about being a sports mom is not only that I get to spend so much time with my kids,” she says. “I love getting to know my teammates and their families. They are my community.”
This weekend, we honor wives and mothers for what they mean to us, and we also honor their unnoticed, but sometimes underappreciated, roles in sports.
Athletic moms are often the driving force behind their children's athletic pursuits, and their love endures whether those pursuits come to fruition or not. Whether it's a biologist, a teacher, or a national championship winning coach, they always put moms first. Here are her three reasons to celebrate them all.
1. Sports moms are everywhere.
Maryland women's basketball head coach Brenda Frese may have to miss many of her sons' games, but she will always be in the hearts of her 16-year-old twins, Tyler and Marcus. be.
“When she scores, the boys are excited to see their mom in the stands,” said Frese's husband, Mark Thomas. “Then they always choose to go home with her instead of me.”
Tyler was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 2 years old. It is treatable and his parents care only about his health and ability to play every time they see him on the court or field. Frese sits quietly in the stands, taking careful notes on her sons' performances and offering feedback only when they ask her for it. They often do that.
“You have your own opinion, but I'm not going to tell my son that,” she told USA TODAY Sports last year. “That needs to be their path.”
According to their father, the twins also showed off what a well-organized program looks like by roaming around Frese's Maryland team, giving shots to players and giving advice on their mother's lineups. It is said that he has experienced this.
“Brenda thrives in situations where there are a lot of moving parts,” Thomas says. “I'm not ashamed to admit that women are often better planners than men, and I think that's a huge help to sports teams. When I've been coaching youth teams, I've My best team manager was my mother.”
“Team managers are responsible for things like communicating with parents, arranging for people to bring snacks, and team parties. But they also do well as head coaches. Many mothers are Sometimes they see things a little differently than men.'' Having both moms and dads involved is a healthy balance. ”
Considering the demands of Frese's work, Thomas supervises his sons' activities. But when her mom comes home to her girlfriend's house, Thomas says, everyone forgets about her.
“I turn invisible,” he says with a laugh. “But the dog still loves me.”
Even if sports moms aren't physically there, trust me, they are. They may be in the athlete's mind, like Frese, or they may show up in the way they play. Or their fingerprints might be on a brand new uniform, a bag of snacks, or the myriad extras needed to maintain a youth sports team.
Coach Steve: “What are we doing about youth sports?” asks Brenda Frese
2. Master of logistics
Like Frese, Kim Newsom, who lives with her family near Princeton, New Jersey, is a constant source of reassurance for her sons. Unlike Frese, she was not always quiet. That's usually her role, along with her husband Leon, a former Princeton University football player who is now the NBA's chief security officer.
“I was sitting on the sidelines, losing my mind, and a former player said, 'That was a mistake. Now go play the next game,'” she jokes.
Kim and Leon, who are educators by profession, have three boys. Garrett, 22 years old. Garrett and Gaines were good at baseball. Grant played baseball extensively before switching to football and became a starter on the University of Michigan's offensive line.
Growing up in the 1980s, Kim wasn't a super competitive athlete. She admits that even when she met Leon at Princeton University, she had no idea about being her mother in sports. She had no idea what was involved in it.
“You become a master of logistics,” she says. “Each child practices or plays two or three times a week, and on the weekends they travel far enough to the point where they have to stay in a hotel, so we have to consider who will take which children where.'' My husband travels a lot for work, so it's always been our job,'' which also had to be factored into the equation.
“Oh, and laundry. Lo and behold, it didn't end with three boys. I was just telling a friend yesterday that the biggest surprise from my youngest's school was that they were washing his baseball uniforms. is.”
Being a sports mom is about growing up and learning to grow. We've all experienced those dreaded 8am weekend games. Kim always loved finding a bakery and feeding the players on her team early morning donuts. In my experience, the mental burden of planning sports and giving them experience beyond the basics falls overwhelmingly on sports moms.
“I really just tried to keep it fun, so it didn’t feel like a pain for the kids to go to a baseball tournament all weekend,” she says. “The other moms always made sure we had wine in the hotel lobby at night, which was great. We all had our roles.”
Of course, being a sports mom goes deeper than that. Grant seemed destined for the NFL when a serious injury ended his career in 2016 and threatened to lose his leg.
When he was first injured, he wanted to walk off the field so as not to worry Kim, who was watching from the stands.
“Of course I was worried,” she says.
After retiring from football, Grant earned a bachelor's degree in public policy from the University of Michigan, then a master's degree. He currently serves as the Wolverines' offensive line coach.
As any mom who plays sports knows, winning and losing are secondary, even though they may seem important at the time. They want their kids to come out triumphant from their sports experience.
“Grant's injury was a real and serious point of adversity for him and our family,” Kim told me last spring, still emotional. “The way he got through it, and the way our young boys got through it, the 38 days that he was in the hospital, one of their parents wasn't home, is something I've never seen before. The parents and Leon's mother intervened.
“As a mother, I’m proud of my sporting accomplishments, but that’s what I’m most proud of.”
Coach Steve:How Grant Newsome and his parents coped with unexpected changes
3. They never stop being mothers – for those who need them
Three years ago, Kim and her younger son Garrett woke up in the dark on the Friday after Thanksgiving to drive to Ann Arbor. They wanted to see Michigan play against Ohio State and wanted to meet Coach Grant.
I remember a similar early morning when I arrived at my friend Dana's house to pick up my oldest son, Connor. She had him and his brother stay over so me and his wife could have a night out.
Connor played a baseball game. He said Dana not only woke him up on time, but also fed him a full breakfast before the game.
Danna's warmth always shines through in her adoption role. As any sports mom knows, that goes far beyond her own kids.
“I've been so lucky to see my kids and their friends and teammates grow together,” she says. “I love rooting for their friends and seeing them succeed as much as I love my own kids. But I want to help the kids, their families, and the coaches in any way I can.” I’m glad to know that I always think that way.”
My younger son Liam and I will be joining Dana in a tournament this weekend. Dana coordinates carpools for several of the team's families (“I have a detailed spreadsheet!” she says) and plans lunch and evening activities.
After the boys' last game on Mother's Day, there may come a moment when our coach asks them to walk and hug the parents who brought them there.
If you're attending any games, give your favorite sports mom a hug too. Because she is a true hero on the sidelines.
Steve Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer for USA TODAY since 1999. He coached his two sons' baseball and basketball teams for 10 years. He and his wife Colleen are now high school and middle school sports parents. His column appears weekly. Click here for past columns.
