Fuel for thought: how to survive rising gas prices

We've all felt the sting of higher gas prices over the last several months. And parents of high school athletes are feeling it more than most. There are practices, games, meetings and some stuff you're pretty sure your kid made up. (I mean, would a coach really call practice at Dairy Queen on a Saturday afternoon?)

What's a parent of a high school athlete to do? I've plumbed the depths of my own knowledge, recalled my own high school athletics days, made some things up and have come up with a few solutions to help you alleviate gas pains. (No, the other kind of gas pains.)

1) Make them walk, run or ride their bike to practice. Every sport requires endurance and stamina. What better way than getting to practice via self-propelled transportation? Tell them it's part of their conditioning and that all the great athletes do extra cardiovascular training to stay in shape. Tell them Barry Bonds' parents drove him to practice and look what happened to him.

After all, there's nothing better than a two-mile run or ride to practice to get the old heart pumping. Especially when said practice is at 6:00 in the morning, and the apple of your eye is banging on your bedroom door at 5:30 a.m. whining, "Come oooonnnnnn, I'm gonna be laaaaate!"

My parents took this approach, which helped me with my own training. Of course, now that I look back, I realize it was just another way to get out of driving me around. I guess this made them pioneers in energy conservation. At least that's what my therapist says.

2) Switch sports. Encourage your athletes to switch to a sport that is also a mode of transportation, like bike racing or running, or move to an area with a school on a river and get them to take up rowing or kayaking. Refer them back to Solution #1.

When I was in high school, I was a bike racer. Part of my training involved riding four miles to school each day, which my parents made clear was the only way I was going to get to school unless I rode the bus. As a result, I was the best high school bike racer in Muncie, Ind. in the early 1980s. (Of course, I was the only high school bike racer in Muncie in the early 1980s, but that's beside the point.)

What made me so successful was that I racked up 40 miles a week just getting to school and back, on top of my regular workouts. I rode seven miles each way to soccer practice, rode to my friends', rode to work and anywhere else I wanted to go. As a result, I was in the best shape of my life. It also taught me the importance of having friends who had cars.

3) Carpool. Make arrangements with the parents of your athlete's teammates to trade off driving duties. You'll bring them home if they'll take them to 6:00 a.m. practices. You'll drive them to the games before they're all sweaty, the other parents will bring them home.

Here's a tip: if your son plays offensive line for the football team, encourage him to invite smaller, lighter players like wide receivers and running backs to carpool, not other offensive linemen. Putting too many bulky players in a car can severely reduce your fuel efficiency to that of an M-1 tank. Better yet, get him to make friends with female gymnasts. You can fit several of them in the glove compartment and still have room for a couple lacrosse players in the trunk.

Gas prices show no signs of coming down in the future and neither does your athlete's activity level. Driving your kids to practice will be a significant part of your life and your household budget. But, by practicing these tips, you can save time and money, as well as help them to become better athletes. Just make them buy you a hybrid car when they make it to the pros.-