From TPT Creator to Coach Juggling Business Teaching and Two Flag Football Teams

I thought uploading 200-plus products to TPT while teaching full-time and building a website was enough chaos for one human life.

Apparently, I was wrong.

Because now I have added a new title to the collection: Coach.

Not assistant coach. Not “I’ll help pass out cones” coach. I’m talking actual coach. And not for one team either. I’m coaching the boys flag football team and the girls flag football team at the same time, with coed practices, limited field space, a clipboard in my hand, and a nervous system that has fully entered “browser with 47 tabs open” mode.

The first practice happened today. So many kids showed up that I now have to make cuts.

Cute little plot twist, right?

One minute I’m designing STEM resources, posting products, thinking about descriptions, thumbnails, bundles, keywords, and building a teacher business website. The next minute I’m standing on a field trying to remember which kid has the speed of a squirrel and which kid asked if cleats were “emotionally required.”

This is the current chapter of my Teachers Pay Teachers seller journey, and honestly, it feels like the most teacher thing ever. Build lessons. Run labs. Create resources. Sell online. Start a website. Expand markets. Coach two football teams. Try to remember to drink water.

Jack of all trades? Sure.

More like jack of all trades, master of “please let me make it to Friday.”

The strange overlap between TPT and coaching

At first, TPT creator and flag football coach sound like two completely different identities.

One happens at a computer with coffee, product covers, curriculum standards, and a suspicious number of Google Drive folders.

The other happens on a field with whistles, cones, nervous kids, excited kids, competitive kids, and one coach silently praying nobody gets hit in the face during warmups.

But after today, I realized they are weirdly connected.

Both require planning. Both require clear directions. Both require you to explain something that feels obvious to you but is absolutely not obvious to the person hearing it for the first time.

In STEM class, I might say, “Use the engineering design process.”

On the football field, I say, “Run to the cone, turn around, and look for the ball.”

In both places, at least one student will ask, “Wait, what cone?”

That’s teaching.

Coaching is teaching with sneakers on.

My TPT business taught me to break big skills into small pieces. If I’m creating a resource for middle school students, I don’t just toss them into a challenge and hope for the best. I scaffold. I model. I give examples. I create checkpoints.

Flag football needs the same thing.

A new player doesn’t need a lecture on offensive strategy during practice one. They need to know how to line up, how to pull a flag safely, how to run a route, how to listen for a play call, and how not to wander into the parking lot because they saw a friend.

The teacher part of my brain knows this.

The nervous coach part of my brain is still whispering, “What if I accidentally create a football circus?”

The first practice reminded me that kids still want to show up

The biggest surprise from practice wasn’t the energy. I expected energy. Middle schoolers can generate enough energy to power a small city, especially if someone says the word “competition.”

The surprise was the turnout.

So many kids came out.

That’s exciting. It’s also stressful, because when more kids show up than there are roster spots, the joy comes with a knot in your stomach.

But zooming out for a second, what a good problem to have.

Kids want to be involved. They want to play. They want to be part of something. The CDC recommends that children and adolescents ages 6 to 17 get 60 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily. School sports can help with that, but they also give students structure, belonging, confidence, and a reason to stay connected after the final bell.

And girls flag football is having a moment. Across the United States, more schools and state athletic associations have been adding girls flag football programs. The NFL and other organizations have also promoted the sport as a way to expand access. That growth matters because flag football creates another path for students to compete, lead, and see themselves as athletes.

So yes, I’m nervous.

But I’m also proud that so many students showed up willing to try.

Even the kid who asked if “juking” was allowed during stretches. Honestly, I respect the commitment.

The hard part is cutting kids from a middle school sports team

Let’s talk about the part I would rather avoid, but can’t.

Cutting kids from middle school sports team tryouts is brutal.

There’s no cute way to say it. These are kids. They worked up the courage to come out. Some are experienced. Some are brand new. Some are confident. Some are clearly trying something scary for the first time.

And now I have to make decisions.

The teacher in me wants to keep everyone. The coach in me knows roster size matters. Playing time matters. Safety matters. Practice quality matters. If there are too many players and not enough space, reps drop fast. Kids stand around. Drills get messy. Nobody gets enough feedback.

That doesn’t make cuts easier. It just makes them real.

So I’m trying to approach it like I would approach grading a project or running a fair STEM challenge. I need criteria, documentation, and consistency.

Here’s what I’m thinking through:

• Attendance and effort during tryouts

• Coachability and listening skills

• Basic athletic skills like catching, flag pulling, footwork, and awareness

• Team attitude and sportsmanship

• Positional needs for each roster

• Safety and readiness for game situations

  
  

That last one matters. Middle school sports are still learning spaces, but games move fast. If a player isn’t ready yet, that doesn’t mean they failed. It means they may need more development time before being placed in a competitive setting.

I also want to talk to my athletic director and follow school policy exactly. Cuts should never feel random. They should be tied to the program’s limits, the evaluation process, and the needs of the team.

Will that make it painless?

Nope.

Will it help me sleep at least 14 percent better?

Possibly.

Coed practices need structure or they become dodgeball with flags

Running coed practices for two teams sounds efficient in theory.

In practice, it feels like hosting Thanksgiving dinner for two families while also teaching everyone how to run a slant route.

The boys team and girls team both need attention. They may share drills, warmups, conditioning, and skill work. But each team also needs its own identity, leadership, and game preparation.

That means I need systems.

Here are the coed sports practice tips I’m already learning, mostly through trial, error, and one near cone-related disaster.

Keep the warmup shared and simple

Everyone can warm up together. Dynamic stretches, light jogging, high knees, backpedals, and short sprints work for both teams.

This saves time and builds a shared practice culture. It also lets students see that both teams are held to the same expectations.

Same effort. Same respect. Same “please stop talking while I’m explaining the drill” speech.

Split skill stations by purpose

Instead of separating only by boys and girls right away, stations can focus on skills.

For example:

• Quarterback and center exchange

• Route running

• Catching under pressure

• Flag pulling angles

• Defensive backpedal and break

• Communication and play calling

  
  

Players rotate, coaches or helpers monitor, and everyone gets reps. With a big group, stations prevent the classic middle school sports problem where three kids are active and 27 kids are picking grass.

Build in team-specific time

At some point, each team needs its own space.

The boys need to learn their plays. The girls need to learn their plays. Each team needs to develop trust, leadership, and rhythm.

Even 15 to 20 minutes of separate team time can help. That’s when captains can emerge, players can ask questions, and the team can start feeling like a team instead of a crowd in matching athletic shorts.

Use a whistle and a timer

I used to think a whistle felt dramatic.

Now I understand.

A whistle is not a personality choice. It’s survival gear.

A timer helps too. If a drill is five minutes, it’s five minutes. Not “until I remember we were supposed to switch.” Practice can disappear quickly, especially when two teams are sharing one plan.

Teacher burnout is real, even when the work is exciting

Here’s the tricky part.

I’m excited.

I’m also tired.

Both things can be true, and honestly, that’s the whole mood of being a teacher with multiple passions.

The workload adds up. Teaching during the day already requires planning, grading, emails, meetings, classroom management, student support, and the emotional labor of being “on” for hours. Add TPT product creation, website work, expanding to other platforms, and now coaching two teams, and suddenly my calendar looks like it was designed by a raccoon with a label maker.

Teacher burnout and workload are talked about a lot because they’re real. The National Education Association and other education organizations have reported concerns for years about workload, stress, and teacher retention. Even without a statistic in front of me, any teacher can describe the feeling of carrying too much at once.

The challenge is that some of the “extra” work is meaningful.

TPT is meaningful because it lets me create resources that help other teachers and support my own professional goals.

Coaching is meaningful because students need adults who show up for them outside the classroom.

Teaching is meaningful because, well, that’s the whole foundation.

But meaningful work can still drain you. Passion does not magically refill your gas tank. If it did, teachers would be casually levitating by October.

Balancing teaching and sports coaching means I need boundaries before I accidentally turn into a laminated to-do list.

Some boundaries I’m considering:

• Practice plans made before the day of practice

• Set TPT work blocks instead of random late-night panic sessions

• One website task at a time

• Templates for parent messages and team updates

• A hard stop time at night, even if my brain says, “But what if we redesigned a product cover?”

• Asking for help from other staff, parents, or responsible student leaders when appropriate

  
  

That last one is hard. Teachers are famously bad at asking for help. We’ll carry 19 tote bags into the building before making two trips.

But coaching two teams is not a solo hero movie. It needs support.

The business owner brain is still running in the background

Even while coaching, the TPT brain doesn’t fully shut off.

During practice, I caught myself thinking about systems, organization, and reusable materials. Because of course I did. Once you’ve made over 200 products, everything starts looking like a resource.

Practice plan template?

Flag football skills checklist?

Tryout evaluation sheet?

Parent communication form?

Team expectation contract?

Google Sheets roster tracker?

My brain immediately went, “This could be useful.”

That’s the funny thing about being a teacher business owner. Real classroom and coaching experiences often reveal the next resource you need to create. Not because you’re trying to turn every life event into a product, but because teaching problems repeat.

If I need a clean way to evaluate players, someone else probably does too.

If I need a simple coed practice structure, someone else probably does too.

If I need help managing tryouts without feeling like a villain in a youth sports movie, someone else definitely does too.

That’s where my middle school STEM teacher blog and TPT store connect with real life. The best resources usually come from actual problems, not imaginary perfect classrooms where every pencil is sharpened and no one ever says, “I left it in my other backpack.”

My teacher side hustle and coaching football life are now sharing the same calendar, the same tired brain, and possibly the same clipboard.

I’m nervous, but I’m also really excited

The nerves are loud right now.

I’m nervous about making cuts.

I’m nervous about organizing two teams.

I’m nervous about giving both the boys and girls the attention they deserve.

I’m nervous about parents, schedules, games, practice plans, and whether I’ll remember all the names before the season ends.

But I’m also excited.

Excited to see students grow. Excited to watch a player catch their first pass. Excited to see confidence build. Excited to create a team culture where effort matters, kindness matters, and nobody gets to act too cool to cheer for someone else.

I’m excited to add “coach” to the list.

Teacher. TPT seller. Website builder. STEM resource creator. Coach.

It’s a lot. It’s probably too much some weeks. But it also feels like one of those seasons of life where everything is stretching at once.

Messy? Yes.

Worth it? I think so.

If you’re following along for STEM resources, teacher business ideas, and the occasional “I accidentally became a football coach” update, you can check out my TPT store here: browse my middle school STEM resources on Teachers Pay Teachers.

For now, I’ll be over here making practice plans, reviewing tryout notes, building my website one tiny piece at a time, and trying to convince myself that a whistle is a tool, not a cry for help.

Jack of all trades?

Maybe.

But today, I’ll settle for coach with a clipboard, a plan, and a whole lot of hope.