By Stan Mastil, CFF, CPA, Senior Director

It’s your third trip to the same baseball field on a Saturday, and you can’t believe the day is still not over. Sound familiar?

My son is very active in baseball playing for two teams: his middle school and a travel club, Mid Atlantic Show American. No surprise that his schedule has my wife and me running a little ragged. In addition to the games, he still has his hitting and catching trainers, and I also pitch in as an assistant coach on both teams. The school team plays two to three times a week, and the travel club can play anywhere from two to eight times a week; plus, there’s practice and time spent driving to and from games on the weekends. It’s no surprise that everything has been off the rails in the last two months.

What can we do about this? Where is the life balance? I know I didn’t do this to my parents, and I played four to five sports a year. I tried not sleeping as much, but that didn’t work as my body eventually said enough. But I do have some ideas that might be worth considering.

I said this last year — and I can’t overemphasize it enough — time management is the most important thing and probably the most challenging thing. Don’t feel like you’re wasting time when you take a break and watch people getting paid to play baseball.  Decompression is just as important as being productive.

Be careful you don’t alienate people. Your social circles will shift, and you might lose touch with certain close friends during the heavy travel times. But you’ll also be making new friendships with parents of kids on the team.

Don’t harp on the fact that you’re missing things that you usually wouldn’t. If it bothers you that you missed a great show at The Garden on a Thursday in April because you spent two hours with your son’s trainer, download the show, listen to it when you’re in the car, and be happy.  Make the most of those rare off weekends. A rainout two weekends ago felt like a blizzard on a Sunday night when I was in grade school.

I hope that all of you who say I’ll miss this when he’s in college and enjoy it while I can are right. I still believe if you have the chance and the ability to do this with your son or daughter, it is worth it. If you have any ideas, please hit me up on the phone or when we’re out at events.

And finally, my annual message: if you’re a team parent, remember they’re just kids. Their college scholarship is not on the line, and most of us that coach are volunteers with full-time jobs contributing our time to be with the kids.

Please take a look at our travel team photo when we won over East in Chichester, PA. Some of the boys are still 11 years old, and it’s crazy that our first baseman is almost as tall as me.

The season wraps up at the end of July, leading to a much-needed break in August. Have a great summer, everyone!

Gavin/Solmonese continues to be a proud sponsor of Mid Atlantic Show 11U American. Thank you for that.