Top 10 Football Mom Must-Haves

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This post is presented in partnership with Future for Football, and we're so excited to share this fun post with you all!

top 10 football mom must-haves

CMC Contributing writer, Trishia Ralston, joined us with her daughter, Sage, to talk about what football means to their family and their community along with the top 10 football mom must-haves! The full interview was done as a Facebook Live (embedded at the end here!), but here’s a recap on what we talked about.

Sage shared about having two brothers who BOTH play football. The boys are in the third and sixth grades. Trishia said Sage is the best football sister in the world, and she is all up in the football mix. They showed off earrings, school spirit wear, beaded bracelets, shirts, hats, and more that the moms and families all make for each other! It was so cute. We originally were going to record outside while they were at one of the boy’s practices that night so the other football moms could all say hi, but it was way too windy, so these two lovely ladies made a huge sacrifice to miss the practice and hopped on camera for us at home instead.

“I am a football mom – my house smells like a locker room, my car has become a taxi, my fridge is empty, my weekends are booked, and my heart is full.” – One of the other football moms on Trishia’s son’s team. “That is football season in a nutshell!” – Trishia.

top 10 football mom must-haves printable
Printable created by Trishia Ralston!

Trishia shared that it’s all about finding your rhythm and making margin as a football mom/football family. They are at practices Monday through Thursday nights, at a game on Saturday for one of the boys, and at a game on Sunday for the other. Figuring out when to eat dinner – 4:30 or 8:30? – is one of their biggest challenges! The boys tend to eat BOTH – first dinner and second dinner (you get the nerdy reference???). They are always eating everywhere!

The Ralstons love that there is such a community support; you’re with these families a lot and celebrate different things going on. The siblings all get together and love going. Sage goes to practices and games, and she has three friends to play with at those. It’s weekly community connection time that they all cherish.

Sage was the perfect addition to our mom chat. She was dressed the part, energetic, and had a cooler full of props to show us all while Trishia went through the top 10 list!

:: Top 10 Football Mom Must-Haves ::

1. Pop-Up Tent

    • Sage took the lead on this one. She said it is usually hot and could rain, so you need protection or shade, and a pop-up tent is the perfect solution instead of carrying large umbrellas and having to hold it while cheering or drinking and snacking. Trishia mentioned that there are generous families who will say they’re bringing a tent and to all get under it together!

2. Different Kinds of Laundry Detergents

    • Apparently, the boys have white uniforms, which require different kinds of laundry detergent to try and keep clean. Trishia’s dad told her about Purple Power that is a degreaser, for the really tough stains. Then, Dawn is highly recommended by ALL the football moms on their teams for other stains. They have a whole line-up of laundry detergents to see what will get grass stains, mud, etc. out in the best way. Laundry is ALWAYS going in their house!

3. Bleacher Chair

    • Trishia said this is necessary to provide back support for moms and dads! They kids don’t really need it, but the grown-ups do!

4. All the Layers, Raincoats, Umbrellas, & Sunglasses

    • The keep mini umbrellas in their bag just in case they need it. The whole bag contains spirit wear and all sorts of other things. It’s always packed, so they don’t have to worry about it.

5. Concession Stand Money

    • Sage is all about her Kona Ice!!! Her whole face lit up when she started talking about it. Her favorite special concession snack is the walking taco (only certain games have it!). They both said you HAVE to have money set aside for special snacks!

top 10 football mom must-haves

6. Portable Cooler for Water & Snacks

    • Aside from those “special” snacks, you need a cooler with water and snacks, especially if games are double and the boys have overlap with games – kids get hungry!!!

7. Grocery Money to Help Fill Up the Empty Fridge

    • You also need grocery money set aside to keep the fridge stocked. One of boys put 3 boxes of cereal on their board in the kitchen! He’s eating huge bowls of cereal now! Keeping a healthy grocery budget is hugely important for them.

8. All the Spirit Wear

    • Cowbells, shakers, all the school colors, school pride! These ladies have it all ready for every practice and game! It was so fun to see Sage show off a bunch of it.

9. Full Camera Roll

    • Trishia said there are great photographers that get amazing photos of the boys playing, but the moms always have FULL camera rolls of photos of the games regardless. Sage even has her own camera now, and she started taking action shots to help support her brothers as well. Trishia is a wonderful photographer herself, and now Sage is learning the trade and following in her talented footsteps!

10. Stashes of Eye Black

    • At an away game one time, they showed up and realized they forgot one of Trishia’s son’s jerseys and had to borrow another kid’s. After that, they started stashing backup things in lots of bags and then eventually added stashes of eye black to all the bags as well! Sage has the boys line up and puts eye black on the whole team. Sometimes, they like stripes then smeared sometimes.

After going through the top 10 football mom must-haves, we got Trishia’s sweet girl to share some more with us. We found out that Sage is a water girl for the games. She usually does the lunges, runs, and stretches during practices but doesn’t usually play football herself with them – she is a great cheerleader for all the boys! [There IS one local mom in town that actually played professional women’s football! you can read her story HERE.] We talked about how my brothers taught me to throw a football with the perfect spin. Sage said that’s something she’s still working on.

Sage keeps everyone on track – she has the spirit wear, eye black, etc. She has earned the title of Team Coordinator in the Ralston household! Trishia said it is certainly a high investment of time and finances, but it’s good to connect and enjoy the true community sport – they love football for that. Listening to them on the video, you can feel the passion from Trishia and Sage. They love supporting one another and connecting through the sport.


Any other ideas or something that should be added to our list, comment and let us know! Read the post “Football if for Family & Fun” for more great stories on what football means to families around Greater Cincinnati.

Visit FutureForFootball.com to find a league near you and for other helpful resources.

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