Mother's Day makes me think of a lot of things.

There is my own mother, of course, who turns 89 later this month and had been active working in the real estate industry until only a couple of years ago.

One thing is certain. Mothers know how to multitask.

That is particularly true in the coaching profession. We who follow high school sports in Butler County have witnessed that over and over again.

A few examples of this are Seneca Valley girls basketball coach Dorothea Epps, Mars softball coach Michele Goodworth, Slippery Rock girls basketball coach Amber Osborn, Knoch girls tennis coach Nance Conlon and North Catholic girls basketball coach Molly Rottmann.

All of these women have been extremely successful as high school coaches. Epps and Osborn have taken their teams to the playoffs on a regular basis. Rottmann has maintained a dominant WPIAL program.

Goodworth has won a WPIAL championship and has 180 wins at Mars. Conlon has led her teams and individuals to WPIAL and state titles.

What's even more impressive is these women have children of their own. Some wind up involved in sports.

Epps' son, Aaron, was a standout basketball player at Butler who has since found success as a high school coach in his own right. Her daughter, Krystal, played high school ball and has kept the scorebook for her at Butler and Seneca Valley.

Rottmann's son, Max, plays on North Catholic's boys basketball team. While she coached her own team to championships, she's also been a fan in the stands, watching her son experience his own on-court moments.

Conlon coached her own daughters at Knoch. As they've moved on in their playing careers, she continues to keep Knoch's tennis program among the best in the state.

Osborn's young children are prevalent in the stands at every Slippery Rock game. She receives plenty of support from them and her husband.

Goodworth has coached Mars softball while expecting a child. Her husband is an assistant coach on the Mars football staff.

Simple truth is, when mothers make the decision to coach a team, they are taking on another family in a way.

They deal with their athletes much like they're dealing with their kids.

All coaches thrive on working with kids and care about kids, of course, otherwise, they wouldn't be investing their time in doing it. But there's something about a mother taking on the responsibility of running a team.

They not only coach their teams, they find a way to get their own kids involved, either as young athletes themselves, helping behind the scenes or cheering from the stands.

On Mother's Day, I applaud the passion for coaching these mothers show.

Our sports world is better for it.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle