Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a longer column, an annual message to high school athletes, their parents, and their coaches, written by Mike Muldoon, a sports writer at The Eagle-Tribune in North Andover, Mass. 

Here is some advice for athletes, coaches and administrators worth keeping in mind this school year: 

1. From the ages of 12-18, there is nothing more important than being popular. From the ages of 19-99 there is nothing less important than having been popular from ages 12-18.
2. A lot of middle-aged guys who can’t play ball with their kids today thought they were doing the right thing playing with pain. Listen to your body.
3. A real athlete never misses a game or a practice for a dance, a concert or Senior Skip Day.
4. Always give a kid a second chance.
5. Be a multi-sport athlete. The number of athletes who do one sport year-round who blow out their knees or quit from burnout is frightening. Ask any college coach: They prefer multi-sport athletes.
6. It’s not OK for a coach to swear. Any coach who swears too much is a lousy coach and an even worse role model.
7. Ted Williams was dead wrong. The toughest thing in sports isn’t hitting a baseball. It’s being a parent of an athlete. Good parents shut their mouths, stay glued to their seats and let the players play, the coaches coach and the officials officiate. You won’t always be successful, but give it your best shot to spare your child a heap of embarrassment.
8. The undersized benchwarmer who doesn’t miss practice in four years should be more admired than the all-scholastic quarterback who can barely fit his head in his helmet.
9. Any coach or athletic director who drones on about “kids nowadays” should get out of the business. Same goes for those whining about being underpaid.
10. The pain you can inflict with social media is immeasurable. Don’t hit send if you are in a bad mood, have had too good of a time at a party or have a voice in the back of your head saying this might not be such a good idea.
11. Treat the team manager with the same respect as the star of the team.
12. A good captain will lead his team to a Super Bowl title. A great one will take a stand against hazing.
13. Steroids make you a bigger athlete and a smaller person.
14. Always feed the benchwarmer the ball at the end of a blowout.
15. If a coach positively affected your life, write him/her a thank you note. You’ll have a friend for life.

Let the games begin.

Michael Muldoon writes for The North Andover (Mass.) Eagle-Tribune.