“So it’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be really hard; we’re going to have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, every day.”
Nearly every female who hears or who sees this particular quote knows exactly where it came from; the famous novel turned movie called “The Notebook” by Nicholas Sparks.
The quote does a wonderful job of explaining the absolute, honest truth about what marriage and married life is really like.
Making the decision to commit to one person for the rest of your life is not a decision to make in haste.
It should be a mutual agreement between the couple that their lives are going to be solely dedicated to one another—that is, until children come along.
There is a lot that goes into a marriage that is often overlooked.
Work is a huge aspect that is overlooked or taken for granted.
You are not allowed endless amounts of time with your spouse because, more often than not, you will spend more time at the office than at home.
This is especially true when you are married to a head coach of a collegiate baseball team.
Coach Brent Fronabarger, head baseball coach and groundskeeper for the Union University Bulldogs, said he always knew he wanted to be around athletics and that he always wanted to be a baseball coach of some sort.
Fronabarger and his wife, Sandy, have two children –Brady is six and Landry is three; both share the same love of baseball as their daddy.
Being a head coach comes with a long list of responsibilities, both during baseball season and in the “off-season.”
“I’m here every day no later than 7:30 in the morning and some days, especially when we travel, I won’t leave the school until 10:30 at night,” said Fronabarger.
Weekend games—double or triple-headers—are equally as busy and time-consuming for Coach.
Depending on the weather the night before, the team may have to pull the tarp off the field as early as 7 a.m.
Then there is batting practice and a long list a pre-game preparations. And then the actual series begins.
A double header on a Saturday could last up five to six hours. After the series is over the team and the coaches prepare the field for the next day’s games.
All in all, during a home weekend series Coach will put in between eight to 10 hours each day. If it is an away series, that time is doubled due to travel time.
During the week, Coach is at the field house from 7 a.m. to at least 5 or 6 p.m., for practice and working on the different athletic fields around campus.
During the off-season, Fronabarger is traveling the United States in search of prospective players for the Union baseball team, which is also time-consuming—he puts in 50 hours a week.
“I think that is what a lot of people don’t realize—just exactly how much goes into being a coach, even in the off-season,” said Fronabarger. “That’s just part of it when you get into coaching. Especially being a coach at a college level, it is a lot more time-consuming.”
Fronabarger’s wife has a flexible job, which allows her to be with their boys much of the time.
Brady, the eldest, is starting to get involved in extra-curricular activities at school, which Fronabarger misses a lot due to his job.
“I missed his last two Saturday basketball games because we were on the road, so from that standpoint it is hard,” said Fronabarger.
Thankfully, says Fronabarger, Sandy has also been around athletics for most of her life, so she understands what goes into being a coach, especially at this level.