Tryouts are over, your son or daughter is on a team, the first practice is scheduled and you’re ready to roll into the next youth sports season.

And then … you get the dreaded call: It’s field clean-up day.

If you’re like me, whatever day has been set aside to call on parents to rake, shovel, clean, paint and prepare the local sports complex for the season is probably the same day you had hoped to do just about anything but that.

Let’s face it: Cleaning isn’t fun in our own yards, let alone someone else’s. But just think about how the fields would look on opening day if nobody stepped up and pitched in on field clean-up day. Maybe like your backyard does now?

For us parents, the nice thing about this day is it doesn’t matter what your real talents are or what kind of physical condition you are in because you can still lend a hand. Even if you never once put on a helmet or laced up a pair of cleats, you can still rake or weed it. If you have a bad back, don’t offer to work the ground, but maybe you can help another way—like grabbing a paintbrush.

And what about the players? I’m not sure why more leagues don’t make it a requirement for players to participate because after all, it’s their complex.

Even young kids can pick weeds. Heck, for them it might be fun. And the older kids can lug dirt, rake and shovel, just like the rest of us. There’s nothing like taking ownership in something to get the job done right.

Professional teams employ a full-time grounds crew because it’s a full-time job. But there’s a reason youth sports leagues do not – it’s called money. That’s why it’s important for parents and players to all chip in to make their field as pristine as possible, not just for opening day, but the entire season.

After all, no matter what sport it is -- it’s time to “Play ball!”

Jon Buzby has been involved in and writing about youth sports for the past 30 years, originally as a coach and board member with his now-adult son and most recently "just as a dad" with his 8- and 10-year-old sons. Jon is an award-winning writer and his latest book, “Not an Expert, Just a Dad … In this Crazy Game Called Life,” is available on Amazon. Send comments or future blog topics you'd like to see to JonBuzby@hotmail.com and follow him @YouthSportsBuzz on Twitter.  

For information on applying for a USA Football grant toward the purchase of a FieldTurf field, check out the USA Football Grant Program.