The start of school is just around the corner, if not already here! With that, comes another fall youth sports season. By the second full week in September, parents will be juggling practices, meals, sports and don’t forget – school.

It’s hard enough getting back into the routine of setting alarms, packing lunches and getting homework done, but now you throw in the nightly practices and all of a sudden the stress begins to mount.

Here are five things to think about now, before the rush of September arrives on your front door:

What will you do if your child has practice and you simply can’t drive them? It might be for a very good reason – such as you have a work meeting that night – but even if it were a questionable reason, like a delay on the golf course, you still need to have a ride for your child.

Think ahead to whom you’ll call on. Whether it’s grandpa, a neighbor or a teammate’s mom – reach out ahead of time and be sure they’re willing to help occasionally.

In my house, we have a simple rule before the fall sports season even starts. If your grades start suffering, you start missing practices, which ultimately will lead to missed game time.

Any good coach will tell your child that school comes first, but it’s our job as parents to stress this as well – and it’s easier to do now in August than when the first poor test grade comes home.

It’s just as important for the daughter to see dad at the cheerleading competitions as it is for mom to attend her son’s football games. Don’t pick which game you’ll attend based on gender stereotypes or, realistically, the one you’d rather go to. Remember, each and every one of your kids wants you in the bleachers or the stands.

Even though it is a sports season, beds still need to be made, dishes need to be put away and laundry needs to be folded. Whoever is responsible for these things during the offseason should also be doing them in-season. It teaches children how to balance fun with responsibility.

Hint from experience: It’s much easier to motivate a child to get a chore done before practice. If you’ve ever tried to convince a child that emptying the dishwasher is important at 8PM after a full day at school and a long practice, you know what I mean.

Your children are inevitably going to have more than just sports commitments after school, in the evenings and on the weekends. Whether it’s a wedding they don’t care about, a sleepover they do, or religious education they need to attend, priorities for those things should be set ahead of time.

Is a soccer game going to take precedence over a friend’s birthday party? How about Grandma’s 75th birthday party? And what about that cousin’s wedding that even you don’t want to go to but have no choice? Talk about conflicts as soon as you know they’re going to arise, rather than the night before the big game.

Thinking about these things now can help alleviate some of the unavoidable stress once the school year and sports season are in full swing.

Jon Buzby has been involved in and writing about youth sports for the past 30 years with perspectives as a parent, coach and board member. Jon is an award-winning writer and his latest book, “Coaching Kids Made Easier,” 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.