From "Please Don't Hit Me with That Ball" to Team Mom

Let me start with a confession: I have absolutely no idea where my boys got their athletic ability.

Seriously. I've been scratching my head about this for years. Sure, I like to stay active and healthy, but sports? That was never really my thing. Growing up, my sport was horseback riding – you know, the kind where you and your four-legged teammate work together, and the only ball involved is the occasional apple treat. Anything that required hand-eye coordination with a flying object or, heaven forbid, the possibility of getting whacked in the face? Hard pass.

My husband had a brief stint with organized sports as a kid, but that fizzled out after middle school. So when our two sons came into this world practically bouncing off the walls with energy and natural athletic talent, we looked at each other like, "Where did THIS come from?" It's like sports are literally embedded in their DNA, and somehow we're just along for the wild ride.

From Front Row Seats to Lifelong Love

Here's the thing though – while I might not have been blessed with athletic prowess, I've been a sports watcher since I was eight years old. That's when my great uncle won front row seats to a New York Mets game at Shea Stadium, and let me tell you, seeing those players up close from behind the visitor's dugout absolutely ruined me for life. How do you go back to nosebleed seats after experiencing baseball magic from the front row?

But here's where it gets interesting (and slightly embarrassing): my best friend and I somehow became die-hard Atlanta Braves fans in the '90s. Yes, you read that right. Two girls from Connecticut, completely ignoring the Mets, Yankees, and Red Sox – teams we could actually root for on our home turf – and instead throwing our hearts behind the Atlanta Braves.

In our defense, ALL the Braves games were on TBS back then, and this was during the era of the pitching dream team: Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, and Tom Glavine. Add a hottie like David Justice and we were completely hooked. My husband later expanded my sports-watching repertoire to include football and basketball, so I guess you could say watching sports has been my sport since childhood.

Which makes me the perfect candidate for what I've now become: a sports mom.

Just Don't Call Me a Soccer Mom

But here's where I need to set the record straight – don't you dare call me a soccer mom. Soccer is just not my jam. Yeah, my kids play it, and sure, I enjoy watching them compete and have fun out there on the field, but mostly I'm just... meh about soccer. I'll cheer from the sidelines, I'll bring the orange slices, but please don't label me a soccer mom. I'm so much more complex than that!

Small Town Sports: Where "It Takes a Village" Isn't Just a Saying

Living in a small town means organized sports can be, well, challenging to keep alive. There's a limited pool of kids who play and an even smaller pool of parents with the time and interest to help keep things running. I resisted volunteering at first – I really did. But year after year, when faced with the very real possibility that our kids might not have a team or a season, I caved.

The threat of disappointing these kids who live and breathe sports? That's just not an option.

So over the years, I've worn more hats than I ever thought possible: snack volunteer organizer, team mom, snack shack coordinator, treasurer, board member, event planner, and yes, even football weigh master (talk about navigating some serious politics!). This volunteer spirit has even rubbed off on my husband, who reluctantly stepped up to coach basketball and now baseball too.

As much as we both resisted stepping into these roles initially, we've grown so much personally by pushing ourselves to do things we didn't think we had the skills for. The bottom line is simple: sometimes if you don't do it, it's not going to get done.

You Don't Need to Be Perfect to Make a Difference

Here's what I've learned: you don't have to be a professional or even know everything about a sport to chip in and help. Everyone has a skill or talent that can contribute to making a successful season for your child's team. Maybe you're great at organization, maybe you can design a killer team banner, or maybe you just have the patience to count out uniform sizes. It all matters.

If Chaos Cleats and Coffee accomplishes anything, I hope it's to encourage parents to tackle youth sports with more ease, more confidence, and definitely more fun. Yes, it has its challenges day in and day out – the early morning practices, the muddy cleats tracked through the house, the never-ending snack schedules, the travel tournaments that take over entire weekends.

But the growth our kids experience, both physically and mentally, can't be measured. And here's the beautiful part: while our kids are growing and succeeding, we parents are also learning and growing right alongside them.

Growth Masked as Play

That's really what this is all about, isn't it? Growth is a lifelong journey for all of us. Our kids are learning teamwork, perseverance, how to handle both victory and defeat with grace. They're building confidence, making friendships, and discovering what they're capable of when they push themselves.

And us parents? We're learning patience (lots of patience), organizational skills we never knew we had, and how to find joy in the simplest moments – like when your kid finally masters that skill they've been working on for months, or when they encourage a teammate who's having a rough game.

Sports are growth masked as play, and honestly, there's something pretty magical about that.

Welcome to the Chaos

So that's my story – that's why I created Chaos Cleats and Coffee. Because somewhere between the early morning practices and the late-night tournament drives, between the volunteer sign-up sheets and the post-game snack distributions, I realized we're all just figuring this out together.

We're navigating the beautiful chaos of raising athletic kids while trying to maintain our sanity, support our communities, and maybe – just maybe – have some fun along the way.

If you're in the thick of it too, I'd love to connect with you. Follow along on Instagram for the daily reality of sports parent life, check out my blog for tips and stories that might make you feel a little less alone in this journey, and browse my Etsy shop for designs that celebrate the wonderfully chaotic world we've chosen to embrace.

Because at the end of the day, we're all just trying to show up for our kids, support our communities, and maybe score some decent coffee along the way.

Ready to join the chaos? Let's do this together.