John Naughton , jnaughton@dmreg.com 12:04 a.m. CDT July 5, 2015
Indianola’s Stacy Evans and Melisse Jacobson share an uncommon double play.Both are spending this softball season keeping up with toddlers as well as coaching. Across Iowa, a number of women perform duties that make for a busy summer.
“It takes a lot of patience, a lot of communication with my husband,” Jacobson said. “I love coaching and I love being a mom.”
Not many teams have two coaches who both have active toddlers. Melisse’s son, Charlie, is 21 months old; Stacy’s daughter, Murphy, is one year old.
“We complement each other,” Evans said. “We know what we need.”
Indianola ended June ranked No. 1 in Class 4-A. The Indians won 28 of their first 30 games.
The coaches have been able to balance motherhood and coaching thanks in part to supportive families.
Evans’ husband, Travis, coaches boys’ basketball at Bondurant-Farrar. Stacy took care of their daughter during mornings when Travis ran basketball camps in June; he took over when Stacy ran practice or coached softball games.
“We both support each other really well as parents,” said Evans, who also has two teenage sons.
Jacobson credits her husband, Craig, for helping her continue to pursue coaching.
“My husband is phenomenal,” Jacobson said. “He’s told me all along, ‘You’ve got to keep doing softball.’ ”
At a recent doubleheader, Craig kept busy while an energetic Charlie roamed and raced not far from the fence around the diamond.
“He loves being at the field, playing in the dirt,” Melisse Jacobson said.
There are sacrifices, though. Evans said she missed some of her sons’ sporting events. Jacobson has to organize her son’s clothing days ahead of time to be ready for upcoming activities.
“Everyone says, ‘You don’t know until you’re a parent,’ and it’s true,” Jacobson said.
The coaches’ passion for both softball and raising their own children has kept them busy during summers. They’re role models for players who see them able to succeed in both fields.
“They see us as moms, they see us as coaches,” Evans said.