Just like many parents, Jamie Caro turned to sports when she started thinking about ways to keep her sons active and as a way to prevent them from getting into trouble.
But when Caro found baseball as an outlet for her boys, it wasn’t enough for this single mom of three sons to cheer from the stands or serve as team mom. She decided to coach her sons first in T-ball and then Coach-Pitch.
Never mind that she didn’t grow up playing baseball or softball or knowing anything about the game’s intricacies.
“I had to YouTube and find out because I didn’t know anything about baseball,” Caro recalls as she laughs. “So they are the reason I started liking this sport.”
For Caro, it started in the Spring of 2019 when she and her then-husband signed up their two oldest sons, Janorri and Janorrian Johnson, for the Rec League at nearby Doss Park. Their youngest son, Janorris, was an infant in the stroller at the time.
Fast-forward to today, and all three sons are involved in baseball at varied levels. Janorri and Janorrian are now elevated to Select ball, and six-year-old Janorris is having a blast playing up on 7/8 Coach Pitch Baseball at Doss Park. In all, Caro’s three sons are playing on five different teams.
And Mom, taking a break from coaching this season, is in as many places as possible. And when Caro can’t be everywhere all at once, she has plenty of backup. There are her parents, Aunt Dede, Khayla and the boys’ coaches.
It was convenient, it was close. We brought them over and they tried out. Then, of course, when they asked if any parents wanted to volunteer to coach, their dad volunteered originally, but I ended up being the one to take the team. I’ve been doing it ever since then.
Jamie Caro
“My village. My baseball mom village, they help me out,” Caro said on this particular weekday game night at Doss Park, where Janorris was about to play a game while Janorrian and his Little League Reds team were headed to play elsewhere at about the same time.
“Like they are coming to pick my son up and take him over there to the rec game because I’ve got to be here. That’s just how it works.
“On the weekends, if they are split, one is going to go with his coach or another mom and I’m going to take the other one. That’s how it goes.”
What started as an outlet for the boys became a passion for the family and a source of bonding for Caro and her sons.
“I’m happy that she is supporting us,” said 11-year-old Janorri.
Janorris chimes in.
“It’s fun,” he said. “I get to catch pop-up balls and I can hit home runs into the park.”
Having baseball in common has allowed Caro to stay connected with her sons, who are 11, nine and six.
“I wouldn’t change it,” said Caro, who stands about 4 feet 9 inches. “I love being out here with my boys. I’m their motivation on the way here, I’m their critic, I’m the person at the end of the day telling them, you did a good job, telling them what they did good and what they did wrong. I’m also telling them what we can do to improve the next game.”
But the boys have learned not to expect special treatment just because Mom is running things from the dugout.
“I’m hard on them. I’m very hard on them as a mom,” Caro said. “I really love being a coach. I love a lot of these kids; kids who have passed through who were their age. It’s a really good feeling to be a coach.
“As a mom, I’m still hard. I don’t do mommy’s ball. My sons sit out, too,” she continued. “When they are messing up and not doing what they are supposed to do, they come out, too. Everybody gets treated the same way.”
The commitment to baseball has made for an interesting daily routine that starts with homework as soon as the boys get off the school bus. Depending on the day and who is practicing or playing where, dinner might consist of fast food, a Crockpot meal, sandwiches or nuggets.
But it’s a little easier because Caro’s work schedule—6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. as a clinical research specialist in neurology—allows her to be free to attend or coach practices and games in the evenings.
Caro has found her passion in the process of it all.
“I love coaching. I’m a coach. I’m a mom, but I’m still a coach,” she said. “They know at practice or wherever I am, I’m a coach. I love coaching. I just love the kids.
“I’ve been coaching since Spring 2019. So spring, summer, fall. Spring, summer, fall. Like, no break because the Northwest Baseball Association is year-round. This is the first season that I’m not a head coach.”
In the Rec League at Doss, it’s not uncommon to see other mothers coaching teams or serving as team pitchers. It’s just part of the culture of this league on the north side of Houston.
But Caro and her enthusiasm for her sons and all kids seem to make her stand out.
“She is good. She was my baby’s coach last season,” said Kayla Jones, who came up to give Caro a big hug outside of the baseball park. “She is a good coach. She is involved with the kids and everybody likes her.”
But Caro admits that it wasn’t always easy at first, especially when dealing with dads who weren’t used to dealing with a tough and sometimes intense mom coach.
“For a long time, when I was over on the T-ball field, we won a lot of championships,” she said. “All of the other coaches were male and I was the only female coach on the field, so I wasn’t really liked. But now we are all cool, we have a good time.
“Even now, the kids and coaches know, I don’t come to play. I come to win.”
As far as her sons are concerned, all three have other sports interests that range from football to basketball to soccer and even tennis. What they may ultimately do is anybody’s guess, and Caro is okay with that.
“I would like to see them go as far as they want to go with it. If they want to play different sports, that’s fine. I know they want to play football, basketball and other sports.
“Right now, they are into baseball, they love baseball. Janorrian even talks about going to MLB. Maybe he will change his mind later on. They all want to opt into different sports, but they all truly love baseball.”
The same goes for Mom, who says she and her sons have not only bonded over baseball but are also making many great memories in the process.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do when they don’t want to play anymore. I love it,” Caro said. “We are making memories and we’re having a good time. This is like my life. This is like a mental break for me. I love to be out here. Most people like to do other stuff. I like to be out here with the kids.”
