Tackling safety: One mom at a time

Sehome football moms brought together with coaches and their sons for safety and connection

For the third year running, the Sehome High School football program invited the moms of players to come together at the start of the season for Mom Clinic, a time and place to learn about technique, safety and even some strategy. The idea of a “football mom clinic” has taken off in recent years across the nation. It takes moms off the sidelines onto the field alongside their sons to learn the game more deeply and understand the critical steps taken in the name of safety.

“The Mom Clinic is all about inviting our football moms, stepmoms, grandmothers, aunts and sisters, safely into the world of football,” says Sehome head football coach Brian Young. “The goal is to expose moms to the game and show them through hands on participation how we keep their sons safe and healthy while playing the great game of football,”

During the afternoon clinic, the coaching staff are introduced, then through “chalk talk” in front of a board, the coaches run through offensive and defensive plays. After the presentation, the moms and sons get up on their feet on the field and go through a normal team warm up together, with the players coaching their moms through the team exercises.  After the warm-ups, the moms run through drills in tackling, blocking and receiving alongside their sons. During the drills, the coaches point out the techniques used, emphasizing how they keep their sons as safe as possible when playing. Going through drills is an important step in learning to avoid concussion and injury. And finally, the moms actually run through scrimmages playing against their sons.

If this sounds like serious information about football rules mixed in with some laughter and camaraderie on the field, you are correct. The Mom Clinic is a chance for the sons to cheer on their moms and show them the ins and outs of the game at the same time.

Mom Lisa Staton has been part of the clinic for all three years at Sehome and shared that her biggest takeaway has been “learning the details of every position having very specific jobs to do, and the carefully orchestrated teamwork that it takes to successfully play football.”

For mom Porter Vigil-Herring, she says she “loved to see the team support.” This is Porter’s second Mom Clinic.

“Not only were the players cheering and supportive of their own moms,” Porter shared, “but of all the moms out there.”

“You could tell that the coaches have built a positive and supportive environment for our athletes to thrive in,” she continued.

In the middle of all this learning and drilling, a few heartwarming exercises were also thrown in (because…well…it’s moms!) This year each player was asked to call out what they are thankful for about his mom.

Ahead of this year’s clinic, Coach Young says he started getting emails during the summer to ask if it was happening again. Interest is strong and growing with nearly 30 moms who attended the late August event this year.

“We want to keep building it and educating our football moms of the game and how we can work together to ensure we keep our guys as safe and healthy as possible,” he shared.  

Touchdown for Coach Young and his Sehome assistant coaches Devon Jackson, Rand Bentley, Jack Farley and Issac Maness who were there helping at the 2025 Mom Clinic!

Photos courtesy of Katrina Young, Porter Vigil-Herring and Lindsay Brown