By J1 Reporter Lauren Martin 

“Did you hear Bella made varsity? It’s definitely because her mom’s the coach.” This is a line that spread throughout Marian when the soccer team placements came out during Bella DeGeorge’s freshman year. 

Ever since Bella was a little girl, she has always had her mother, Teresa DeGeorge, right by her side coaching her in soccer. 

The thing that comes with having a parent as a coach is that there’s the stereotype that the coach’s kid is “treated differently.”

Bella said, “It’s obvious that my mom’s the coach, and I can see how people think that means I get treated differently compared to the other players. Although I love having my mom coach me, there’s the downside of the other players’ opinions.”

“The difference between having my mom as a coach compared to other coaches I have had is that she’s there to improve me, but she’s also there to support me,” Bella said. She feels as if the loving bond they have encourages her to work harder every day. 

Along with this, Bella says, “My favorite part about having my mom as a coach is that I can always work on improving. Whenever I need help with something, she’s always the first person there to assist me just like mothers do.” 

Bella has her mom there to help her improve, but she did not make the team just because her mom is the coach. Yes, her mom helps her as a coach, but Bella made varsity as a freshman on her own and by working on herself. 

“Although I love having my mother as my coach, it can also get a bit challenging. Since I am her daughter, it can feel like she’s a bit harder on me sometimes. I take this as an opportunity to better improve, and I wouldn’t change it for anything,” she said.

Coach Teresa is there for Bella not only to help with her soccer abilities, but to be supportive as a motherly figure as well.  “It is challenging to balance being a mother and a coach. When I’m on the field, I need to remember right now is a time I need to have my coach hat on, and then there are appropriate times where I need my mother hat on,” Teresa said.

Teresa is a Marian alumn who was on the Marian soccer team during high school. She received a scholarship to Creighton for soccer, and continued to play in college. 

When Teresa was 25, she had never even thought about becoming a coach until an old coach she respected put the idea in her head.

Ever since then, Teresa has just happened to coach all of her kids in soccer. Teresa’s opinion on the stereotype that the coach’s kid gets treated differently is, “If anything, I’ve had multiple times where I’ve coached my own children, and I am harder on them. Whenever my mom hat starts to come on, I just get help from the assistant coaches.” 

“The most challenging part about coaching my own children is, well, everything,” Teresa said. “But at the end of the day, my favorite part about coaching is how I can observe Bella’s successes, we can drive to games and practices together, and overall, being able to spend time together.”