LIFESTYLE | West Suburban Coach Moms Share their Stories on Hard Work & Balance

AMAZING LOCAL MOMS WHO DO IT ALL, INCLUDING COACHING KIDS

Hailing as college athletes from the University of Michigan and University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Erin Neiman and Kristen Corning can both easily be nominated as Coach Moms of the Year with their full-time careers, house-full of children, and coach’s cap.

Erin is a Talent & Organization Development Specialist at Astellas Pharmaceuticals working an average of 50 hours per week, and Kristen is a registered nurse at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva. Erin also plays in a women’s soccer league, while Kristen is an active member on a women’s, as well as a co-ed softball team. Erin has two teenage children and Kristen has three young kids. Erin has been Head Coach of the Naperville Premier League boys’ soccer team for the past 6 years, and Kristen has been the Head Softball Coach at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove for the past year.

So how and why do they do it all?

“I started coaching so that I could provide my son with a team environment where he could play soccer with his friends and we could make sure that fun and the love of the game was the focus,” Erin says. “I am proud of the relationships that I’ve established with the boys on the team. They’ve changed and learned incredibly over the years and I am grateful to have played an integral role in their childhood, teaching them the value of hard work, positive attitude, teamwork, strategy and drive.”

Growing up playing softball, basketball, and volleyball, Kristen says softball helped shape her into the person she is today. “I had many great memories from the sport and I wanted to continue to play a role in young women's lives,” she says.

Both women credit their husbands for helping them manage it all from helping with household chores and running the kids around, to assisting with coaching responsibilities on the field. Erin says she also uses an App to manage the team activities and attendance and plans meals and rides each Sunday to make sure the week goes as smoothly as possible.

In the end, it’s the validation from former players that keeps them going. “Just last month an alumni player told me that she was lucky to have me in her life,” Kristen shares. “It was reassurance that I was meant to do this!” -Kristen Kucharski

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