Book #8 - The Coach's Wife

A few days ago I finished book #8 of the year, The Coach's Wife by Carolyn Allen. I had read really good reviews about this book and it had some great insight into what life is like as a coach's wife, particularly a Texas high school coach's wife. The author, Carolyn Allen, is the wife of Highland Park High School's head coach, Randy Allen. They have been at numerous high schools throughout Texas prior to Highland Park. There is nothing quite like Texas high school football so it was good to have insight from someone who has been there in both a small town and big city. We have no idea where the coaching life will take us so it's nice to know what it's like it both places.

The description that Amazon gives of the book is:

The coach's wife is proud to stand beside her husband. She's not in the limelight in the shadow of or behind her coach. Yes, the spotlight shines on him; however, they are both hanging on as life during the season takes on intensity like no other. Emotions are high. Time is short. And the pressure is to win. The coach s wife is doing everything to keep the marriage and family going: waiting, cheering, moving, crying, budgeting, scrapbooking, repairing,traveling, praying, and juggling it all. Coaches wives believe that the calling of a coach is a noble one: to instill integrity, courage, and sportsmanship in the next generation.

There is a lot of great insight in this book about how to keep the household running during the season when Coach is incredibly busy and not home much. There's also chapters about dealing with the community and parents and how to handle your life in the spotlight. One thing I found particularly interesting was a comparison of a coach's family to a minister's family and how the two are similar in that in both of them people are watching you and how you live all of the time and that the only people that truly understand your life are other coaches/ministers. I have often compared a coaching staff to a church staff many times as I see how alike they are and how similar the lifestyles are.

Anyway, I would recommend this book to any coach's wife, no matter the level or sport. While the book does focus on Texas high school football coaches and their families, it would be beneficial for any coach's wife to read.