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How Dad Squad works
Dads who meet up, city by city, so there’s somewhere to go and somebody to talk to. No fee, no application, no forms. And if the part putting you off is walking in on your own where everyone already seems to know each other, every one of us did that once. Here’s the whole thing, start to finish.
The Short Version
Join your metro squad
Start with the main Dad Squad group for your metro. It’s where everything gets announced, where the other cities are visible, and where you can see what this actually is before you commit to anything.
Join your city squad
Then join the squad for your own city. That’s the one whose events you’ll actually get to on a weeknight, and it’s where your squad leader is. One membership covers all of them, so you’re welcome at any city’s events too.
Don’t see your city? Talk to us about starting one. That’s how most of these began.
Show up
Every gathering is on the calendar with a date, a place and who to look for. Say you’re coming, a first name and an email, no account needed, and check the box if it’s your first one so somebody watches the door for you.
Build your event
The best nights are the ones a member came up with. You don’t have to be a leader and you don’t have to ask us. Pick the kind of night, your city, a place and a time, and it goes on the Dad Squad calendar for every dad in your city to find.
It takes about three minutes on your phone. A leader gives new hosts a quick look first, and after that your events go up on their own.
What it looks like
Real nights, real squads. More in the gallery.
The Levels
Four ways to be part of Dad Squad. The first one is the one almost everybody uses.
Free
Anybody can be one. Come to anything, join a squad, get told when things are on, and have a leader who knows your name. No fee, no application, no card on file. Some events cost something of their own, a ticket, a buy-in, your own dinner, and the event says so before you say yes.
The member pass
A pass that lives in your phone’s wallet. It opens up discounts at DadSquad+ network locations, savings on ticketed events, and rewards for using them, and it helps cover what the gatherings cost to put on.
Restaurants, venues and family spots
Your place becomes one of the spots where pass holders get their discount, and we commit to best efforts to host a Dad Squad event there once a month, in your city. Monthly, and it’s a good part of why membership costs nothing.
Trades and services
The gutter man, the lawn man, the mover. One per trade per county, featured in the directory so the squad knows who to call. Monthly, and it holds your trade in your county.
If you’re a member and you own a business, listing it in the directory is free. That’s what the directory is for: men in the squad hiring men in the squad.
How It’s Organized
Every county, the cities inside them, and the man running each one. Leaders are ordinary members who took it on: they post the events, greet the new men and pick up the phone when somebody goes quiet. Nobody is staff and nobody is paid.
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Collin County
Kean Moore
- Frisco Kean Moore
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Dallas County
James Deems
- Dallas Beto Padilla
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Denton County
Peter Correro
- Denton Anthony Griffith
- Flower Mound / Argyle Siddharth K Chawla
- Lewisville Austin Ingram
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Rockwall County
Chase Crenshaw
- Rockwall Gary Bourgeois
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Tarrant County
Jeremy Smith
- Arlington Jaime Ventura
- Benbrook Josh A Harville
- Mansfield Cory Cook and Alex Hickman
- Northeast Fort Worth Samuel Snow
- Southlake / Keller / Grapevine / Colleyville Jeff Setzer
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Travis County
Michael Reaves
- Austin Michael Reaves
Your city not here? Start a squad.
What A Night Actually Looks Like
Cigars Or A Watch Party
Cigars, a game on, a booth at the back of somewhere loud. The easiest kind to walk into, because nobody notices a new face arriving and you can stand at the edge until you’re ready.
Somebody’s Backyard
A cookout, a fire pit, a poker table. Smaller, so you end up actually talking to people instead of shouting over a game. Bring something for the grill if you want to.
Out On The Water
Fishing off a boat, a pontoon on the lake, a morning somewhere quiet. Long enough that you stop being the new guy about an hour in.
What’s Coming Up
Upcoming meetups, projects, and gatherings across all Texas squads.
Questions Men Actually Ask
No. All sorts of dads are here: new ones, step-dads, weekend dads, men whose kids left home years ago. But you don’t need a kid to belong. If you show up for people and want to build something where you live, that’s the whole test.
No. It isn’t run by a church and no meetup is put on by one. Faith does come up though. A lot of what gets talked about here’s what matters and what makes a life worth living, and belief is tied up in that. Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and atheists all post about where they stand and what has helped them. That’s men speaking for themselves rather than the group taking a position, and nobody has to agree or explain themselves.
Politics is the same. Both are welcome, in conversation and in the events men put on, as long as they’re handled with discretion and kindness. The group rules put it plainly: hard conversations are welcome, disrespect is not.
No. Nobody sits in a circle. It’s men doing something ordinary at the same time and getting a conversation out of it. If you need more than that, the Ask page has real numbers on it and we’d rather you used them.
Being a member costs nothing, and there will never be a membership fee. Some events have a cost of their own, a ticket, a buy-in, your own dinner, and it says so on the event before you say yes.
There’s also the DadSquad+ pass, which gets you discounts at DadSquad+ network locations and savings on ticketed events. The DadSquad+ page has the details. The rest of what keeps this going comes from local businesses who sponsor it, which is why there’s a directory and why some listings say partner.
Usually not. Most of what we run is for the men, and that’s the point of it. When something is a family day it says so plainly on the event.
Then you don’t say much. Standing around quietly next to other men is a legitimate way to spend a Saturday and it still counts.
Yes, and most of what’s on the calendar started that way. You don’t need permission and you don’t need to be a leader. Say what you have in mind on the Host page and your squad leader helps you sort out the venue and get the word out.
Ready to try one?
The next one is on the events page, and the ones marked “good first one” are the easy ones to walk into alone.