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Team Moms should get trophies at the end of the season like the kids just for surviving. My first year as a Team Mom I had an epic fail. I literally “failed as a team mom” (said in my best Beverly Goldberg voice)! I’m sharing my failure with you in hopes that you can learn from my mistake and rock your Team Mom duties.
First Time Team Mom
My son’s baseball coach is a highly accomplished salesman. He’s one of those people you just can’t tell no. He’s also a close friend of ours, his wife & I were college roommates. So when he pitched the idea to me of being Team Mom for the baseball team, “there’s only a couple of things you’ll have to do”, I of course said yes, not knowing what I was in for.
Being a first time Team Mom can be overwhelming. I would not suggest taking on the duty if it’s your child’s first time playing. Take at least one season to see how everything works and what is expected. Different clubs do things differently and knowing what to expect and how to do things is important when the whole team is depending on you for guidance and answers. Luckily this was our 3rd season in the league so I felt comfortable with how everything worked.
Team Mom Fail
Things started off pretty good. Since I am an organized person I had the roster and schedule, complete with who was bringing snacks, printed up before the first practice. I collected all the raffle ticket money, got uniforms sorted and handed out. I was rocking this team mom thing. Then it was picture day.
We needed to make a last minute time change so I sent out an email to the team. Problem solved, or so I thought. I was still using my old school AOL email account. Millennials reading this probably don’t have a clue what I’m talking about. AOL was one of the first internet and email service providers back in the day, like the 90s. Unfortunately, they haven’t kept up with the times as well as some of the more recent providers. Not everyone got my email about the time change. Not my first struggle with my antiquated email address. I had missed emails from my son’s teacher and school due to server communication issues. I have since updated to a gmail address.
Now, I had stressed out moms trying to get from the other side of town over to the ballpark for pictures. I know what it’s like to be stressed out about getting your kid to the right place at the right time. It’s not a good feeling. I felt terrible knowing my email malfunction was causing stress for other moms. Needless to say our team picture only included half of my son’s team. I ended up scheduling a photographer to come to one of our games to retake our team picture so everyone could be it in.
The Solution
After my epic fail I was able to find a solution to my communication problem. Instead of sending information out through email I now use Apps to keep our team organized. I’ve used both Remind and Team Snap.
Remind
According to the Remind website it is built for schools. I actually came across it because my son’s teacher used it to send out class information and reminders. It’s a free website that includes an App you can access on your smartphone. Once you create an account you can create a class, which will really be your team. Then you can add your team’s contact information to the group, either a phone number to receive messages via text or an email address. You can send group messages or individual messages. The nice thing about the App is that you can see who receives the messages.
Team Snap
The Team Snap App is made specifically for communicating with teams. I use the free version but there is also an upgraded paid version. The free version does everything I need it to do. I like that on the home page you can post the roster and snack schedule. There is also a schedule tab that lets you post things like practice and game times. It also lets you add in what time to meet and extra notes. You can send messages to the group or individuals.
Don’t Stress
If it’s your first time as team mom or you’re a seasoned veteran my best advice to you is don’t stress. Find a way early on to stay organized and keep your team on the same page. Using an App like the ones listed above should help eliminate any communication errors and help you win as Team Mom!