In April I started a group chat with three other moms from the team. u8 girls soccer mom thread is what it is called. We are at thirty-seven hundred messages.
I cannot recommend this enough.
We post the field change. We post photos of someone scoring. We post when we are running late and we need someone to let coach know. We post when our kid had a hard game and we need to vent for two minutes before we get back in the car.
There is a particular flavor of tired specific to the mom of an eight-year-old who plays soccer year-round. The group chat sees that tired and says me too, want a Diet Coke.
Things I have learned from the group chat that I would not have learned from the league email:
- The Sunday game last weekend was rescheduled and nobody got the email. The chat got the email five minutes after one mom called the field directly.
- The new coach for u9 is good. Three moms had a kid go through her last year and they all said the same thing without coordinating.
- Snacks at the field next door are mid. Bring your own.
- The kid who is mean to my kid is going through something at home. The mom of that kid is in the chat and asked us to be patient. We are.
The group chat is the actual league. The official league is the bureaucracy that contains the league.
If you are at the start of a season and you do not yet have a group chat, here is the move. Pick the two moms who seem warmest. Add their numbers. Send the first message. Hey — wanted a smaller chat for the moms who are juggling. Carpool, snacks, vent. We can keep it tight.
That message has never not worked.
— Maren