At the crack of dawn, on the first day back to school, Nicole O’Mara checked her rearview mirror to make sure her 16-year-old son, Connor, was still in sight. She was leading the way down Highway 285 to make sure he made it to Cobb County, where he had a baseball game that morning.
It would be one of the few times that O’Mara wouldn’t be in the stands. As a teacher, O’Mara had to report to North Oconee High School for a day full of meetings.
Teaching and being a baseball mom to two sons aren’t the only things O’Mara is juggling. This year, she took on the head coaching role for the Titans’ flag football team, which went undefeated in its region.
On Thursday, North Oconee will face Glenn Hills at 5:30 p.m. in the first round of playoffs on the Titans’ home turf. If they win, they will play the winner of the other first-round game scheduled at North Oconee, North Clayton versus Grovetown, in Round 2 at 7:30 p.m.
After falling short in the state championship game last year, North Oconee has had a dominant season, outscoring opponents 532-86 with eight shutouts. The Titans look to make their second appearance at Mercedes-Benz Stadium – this time, walking away with the state title.
“[Coach O’Mara] just knows we just want to have fun,” senior Asher Sinclair said. “And she helps us in that, and she supports us with everything. She’s amazing.”
O’Mara was one of the assistant flag football coaches last season, under head coach Jay Lasley, who was also the head baseball coach at North Oconee and stepped down from the role to work in player development with the Miami Marlins. He offered the head coaching role to O’Mara after he announced his departure.
“Having a female coach, it’s a different dynamic than having a male coach,” Sinclair said. “She just understands us.”
For the past 10 years, O’Mara’s primary sports role has been as a dedicated baseball mom to Connor and his 13-year-old brother, AJ. Both have dreams of being professional baseball players one day.
“I think I was home 10 days this summer because [Connor] played baseball all over,” O’Mara said. “So really, watching my children play baseball is kind of like my built-in interest.”
O’Mara danced for close to 14 years while also playing basketball until her sophomore year of high school. Baseball was always a staple in her household, as her mom and her mom’s best friend were “neurotic” about the Braves.
“My mom’s best friend had three boys, and they played baseball, so that’s what I grew up with,” O’Mara said. “We were always at the ballpark with her boys.”
O’Mara’s husband, CJ, was a competitive baseball player throughout his high school years. He intended to try out to play at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, but an injury held him back.
“My baseball stopped there,” he said. “I still loved it obviously.”
Because of the passion they shared, the O’Maras signed up their sons for T-ball when they reached age 3 and the rest is history.
Connor, who primarily plays shortstop for North Oconee and Klutch Baseball, recently committed to play baseball at Wofford College beginning in 2026. He discovered his true love for baseball when COVID-19 hit in his middle school years.
“I mean, we had a lot of time on our hands with COVID,” O’Mara said. “And we have basically a baseball field in our pasture, like, we’ve made a baseball field. And so he would be like, ‘Hey, can you go hit me balls?’ ‘Can you toss me balls so I can hit them?’ And that became an everyday thing that we did.”
Lasley played a huge role in Connor’s baseball journey, as he coached him for his freshman and sophomore seasons. Because of Lasley’s connection with O’Mara, he even let Connor come to batting practice with the high schoolers when he was in eighth grade.
Throughout Connor’s baseball journey and his recruitment process, O’Mara was there for him. From early morning tournaments to traveling through the summer for prospect camps, she helped lead him to where he is today.
“A lot of my decisions are made through her,” Connor said.
AJ has been surrounded by the game his entire life and has begun to follow in his brother’s footsteps. As an eighth grader, he will play this season for Dove Creek Middle School while also playing for Athens Elite 14U this summer as a second baseman and shortstop.
AJ also has volunteered as the batboy for North Oconee’s team the past three years, a role that Connor used to hold before his high school days.
Because of O’Mara’s sport background and her role as a baseball mom, she was able to easily transition into her role as the Titans’ head flag football coach and carry her own personality into it.
“I’m gonna tell you like it is,” O’Mara said. “And maybe that’s the boy mom in me. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m over 40 and I’ve been teaching for 21 years, and I just don’t have a filter anymore.”
Said Sinclair: “She never takes anything too seriously, and she’s not afraid to just tell you how it is. She’ll just tell you straight up. She just always encourages and just knows how the sports atmosphere and all that works.”
The boy mom who is used to being outside the fence of a baseball diamond, is now enjoying the countless hours spent on the football field with dozens of girls.
As junior quarterback Catherine Cooper said when asked by her mom if she thinks O’Mara likes coaching girls since she doesn’t have daughters of her own: “Mom, she’s got 35 daughters.”
Ansley Gavlak is a student in the University of Georgia’s undergraduate Sports Media Certificate program.
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