The Coach’s Wife
by Kim Stone
You know who she is by
where she sits
And how she stays on the
team not to quit
She’s not there for one
person though most think she is there for just the coach her man
But those players on his
team couldn’t have a bigger fan
She has no favorites to
choose on the team
She cheers for them all to
make their play-off dream
Most fans are there for
their own kids and fade away from coming in a few years
But she is there year after
year with each season‘s ending always bringing tears.
Every group that graduates
she calls them her kids too
It hurts to see them
graduate and move on to what they choose to do
Each year it gets harder
and harder to see Senior Night
Knowing it’s their last
game at home under those Friday Night Lights
It’s not easy being the
coach’s wife
It certainly is a rewarding
but hard life
You get to know wonderful
young men and their problems too
Some things you hear just
breaks your heart for what they are going through
Each day the Coach’s wife
prays for each of the young men
And also pleads to God to
help the team come up with the win
You see the players loving
on their coach after a win or a loss
No matter what they seem to
always respect their boss
However in the stands the
parents and fans can feel quite differently about the coach
They say things that break
the coach’s wife’s heart but she doesn’t go and approach
She takes it in while her
heart breaks inside
If they only knew how hard
that coach has tried
He is up before most even
think it necessary to rise
He starts working then
because he has his eye on the prize
He spends hours breaking
down film of his team and others
He spends time making
individuals into a team of brothers
It’s not easy to mesh and
blend boys of completely different backgrounds
To be a cohesive group who
doesn’t care who makes the touchdowns
It’s not an easy job and no
one works harder than her man
But those in the stands
feel like he has no game plan.
If she yelled and didn’t
try to hold back
She’d let them know what
was wrong with the passing attack
She’d say “Your kid didn’t
block, or your kid ran the wrong route”
But she stays out of the
ring and doesn’t try to fight that bout
She takes it in and often
guards these things from her husband’s heart
If he knew what she heard
it would just distract him from doing his part
It’s a hard life
Of a Coach’s wife
Many nights are spent
without her husband by her side
He’s game planning,
tutoring, or giving a kid a ride
He is a father figure to
quite a few
They look up to him to see
what they should do
So the coach’s wife is left
to keep the family on track
Practices, homework,
scheduling, she’s got it all on her back
The kids often go from Sunday
at lunch to Tuesday right before bed
Without seeing their dad once
because he’s been working with the team instead
But the kids take it all in
stride
For their daddy they show a
lot of pride
They know he makes a
difference and what he does is for his team
Even if he can’t be home to
say “Good night sweet dreams’
But still every once in
awhile when he can’t come to a game of theirs or misses a play
They sometimes feel like
having to share him is not Okay
But the coach’s wife lets
them vent and rave to get it all out
And by the time she’s
talked to them no one is left to pout.
When others don’t
understand why the Coach’s wife is so upset about a loss
It’s because that loss did
come at a great cost
The time, the effort, the
coach puts in
Doesn’t seem to matter if
there is not a win
The sacrifice he and his
family make each day
Hurts a lot more when the
kids don’t come to play
The pain of a loss is a
slap in the face to our season
It’s saying our family
sacrifices a lot for no real reason
So don’t tell the Coach’s
wife that the loss isn’t a big deal.
Until you walk a mile in
her shoes you can’t understand how it feels
Ever had your husband’s job
rest on the shoulders of boys that are just sixteen?
Sounds crazy doesn’t it but
it comes with the coaching scene.
Even in good seasons when
the wins seem enough
There’s always someone who
tries to make life rough
So when you see a Coach’s
wife give them some thanks with a big smile
It may be the very thing that keeps them going for awhile
