With Little League practices underway and games now right around the corner (YAY!), I think it's a good time to revisit one of my favorite pieces of advice for parents of young athletes.

ALWAYS MAKE YOUR BALLPLAYER CARRY THEIR OWN BAG TO AND FROM THE FIELD!

As parents, we all want our children to grow up to be confident and independent people, and the super simple act of making them carry their own equipment is an incredibly powerful tool to help teach them how to become that type of young adult, and eventually adult.

We want our ballplayers to learn how be independent on the baseball field. We don't want them looking up into the stands after every play looking for our approval or advice.

We want our ballplayers locked in on the play on the field with confidence and focus.

We want our ballplayers to learn how to speak directly to their coach about any issues with teammates, playing time, missing practices/games, etc.

We want our ballplayers to learn how to advocate for themselves, in a respectful way.

When ballplayers, no matter how young, carry their own bag to the field they start to learn, even subconsciously that:

This is my time on the field, not my parents.

I'm here for me, not for my parents.

I'm responsible for my actions on the field, and nobody else.

I'm capable of setting goals and accomplishing tasks without my parents help.

I'm going to focus on my teammates and my coaches when on the field, and not my parents.

I can handle challenges and adversity, on my own.

Here's a picture of my son Maddux on the way to his first tee ball practice ever at age 3:

Look, the bag is bigger than he is! He's now 6 and no adult has ever carried his bag to or from any practice or game.

Here he is at Terrenea carrying his golf bag for all 9 holes!

Are Marissa and I perfect parents?!? HA! Not a chance! You should see the absolute chaos during bath and bedtime every night :-) But this part, at least, we're getting right!

3 years old is not too young to start, and if you're currently a bag-carrying parent, it's not too late implement a new family rule!

We've probably all seen the viral video of the commencement speech where the military gentleman's advice is "make your bed every morning" and how that simple act and sense of accomplishment can set the right tone for all other tasks and challenges the lie ahead.

Carrying their own bag has the same emotional benefits for Little Leaguers and will serve them well on the field as they now will approach practice and games with a better sense of ownership of their experience, while also laying the groundwork for taking on more and more responsibility as they grow older.

I often joke with my campers that Cody Bellinger's Mommy isn't carrying his bag to Dodger Stadium for him and that Mike Trout's Daddy isn't carrying his bag to the car in the Angels Stadium parking lot after the game.

By being responsible for their bag, players will learn to take more responsibility on the field (fewer strikeouts will be the "umpire's fault" and fewer groundballs that get past them will have "taken a bad hop," for example).

Players will learn to self-motivate so that their desire to hustle, listen, and learn comes from within, rather than from Mom or Dad in the stands.

Players will learn to feel empowered to make their time on the field as productive, fun, and valuable as possible and not rely entirely on adults to achieve those goals.

Listen, parents LOVE doing things for their kids - I'm no different with Maddux and Sloane - and there are so many things that kids can't or shouldn't do on their own. And there are definitely situations in life when kids need Mom and Dad to step in and be an advocate on their behalf. But there are absolutely lots of tasks they can and should do on their own. In baseball, this is one of those tasks.

And it's sooooo easy to do.

Play Hard, Have Fun!