As temperatures are reaching their peak, Amateur Athletic Union baseball programs are nearing the end of their summer season. But the start of the 2017 campaign is right around the corner.

The game is now a year-round commitment for many players. For many young athletes, especially those who are multisport athletes, it is a balancing act.

“It’s all about time management,’’ said Kevin Buckley, a rising sophomore who is a member of the Mariners 15U squad for the Pembroke-based Atlantic Baseball Club. A part of the Mariners program since age 9, he also plays hockey at Marshfield High.

The games, including weekend travel tournaments, will wind down in the next few weeks, making way for tryouts for the 2017 season, and a full winter of workouts (the Atlantic Baseball Club features an impressive indoor facility for its 13 clubs). Then the cycle continues with another 30- to 50-game schedule next summer.

During the hockey season, the 15-year-old Buckley also receives pitching instruction from former Abington High star Stephen Perakslis, now in the Cubs’ farm system; and hitting lessons from former minor leaguer Mike Ryan. A second baseman, he is also on the honor roll.

“We have 13 like-minded individuals,’’ explained Tony Green, head coach of the Mariners’ 15U team.

“Academics are important to them, the sports are important to them, and playing the right way is certainly important to them.’’

Green, also an assistant football coach at Hull High, and the defensive coordinator for the Quincy Militia, emphasizes playing the game the right way, with focus, effort, and poise. In addition to Buckley, he has coached four other players the past three summer seasons, Aaron Froio (Cohasset), Brendan Roy (Pembroke), along with Matt Bray and John Burke of Scituate — his Fab 5.

Like Buckley, Froio is a multisport athlete (football and wrestling) on his school’s honor roll.

“Organization is a key factor,’’ said Froio, also a rising sophomore. “If you stay organized everything goes that much smoother.’’

So in addition to developing their skills on the diamond, they are also working on their life skills.

“It’s never too much,’’ said Michael Babanikas, a rising senior at Thayer Academy who plays first base and pitches for the 16U Canton Dirt Dawgs.

After joining the club last summer, the Easton resident was welcomed by young ball players like Spencer Singer of Sharon.

“Over the Fourth of July weekend, Spencer had the kids over,’’ said Babanikas’s father, Nicholas. “For the (MLB’s) Home Run Derby, they all showed up at my house.’’

“We’re all from different schools, but we’re playing our favorite sport so we really connect,’’ explained Singer before the first game of the Dirt Dawgs’ doubleheader against the Hoptown Shamrocks in Avon last Saturday.

In the competitive world of AAU, in which parents fork over roughly $3,000 annually for their sons to play 30-plus games per summer, including travel tournaments and showcases, sometimes it can be difficult to build relationships with teammates not from the same town.

But with their summer slate, in addition to strength and conditioning, and hitting sessions during the winter, a bond emerges.

“[The players] already have been talking about wanting to play 17 and 18U together,’’ said the elder Babanikas.

In many cases, the growth, and rise in popularity of AAU ball have come at the expense of other summer programs, American Legion in particular.

“I grew up in the Legion era, and unfortunately the quality in competition isn’t there anymore,’’ said Bridgewater native Glenn Tufts, director of the Giants Futures Travel Baseball program.

But as Dick Paster, in his 27th year as manager of Westwood Post 320 points out, the cost to play American Legion ball is minimal. Some teams do charge a few hundred dollars to cover the cost of insurance, umpire fees, baseballs, uniforms, and field usage.

“All of our coaches and administrators are volunteers, and most of coaches have played college and some have played professional baseball,’’ he said.

“American Legion baseball remains the biggest bargain in youth sports. And the games for the most part are local, so there is nowhere near the amount of travel as there is in other youth sports.’’

Tufts, the fifth overall pick in the 1973 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Cleveland Indians, started his own AAU program three years ago. He wanted to get young players working out at his practice facility in West Bridgewater more opportunities against stiffer competition.

Tufts still works full time as a scout for the San Francisco Giants and runs his Play Ball Camp at Legion Field in Bridgewater, which he has done for 30-plus years. On his staff of coaches, he has Ryan Feeney, also a shortstop at Bridgewater Sate, and Keith Bilodeau (Bourne), who pitches in the Giants’ farm system.

“There’s a guy for everything in here,’’ said Feeney, who coaches the 15U team. “If you’re a local guy, you don’t have to go far.’’

“Coaching baseball . . . it’s a little different than teaching history or something like that,’’ said Tufts. “You want guys with playing experience.’’

Along with the biweekly team practices and ample opportunity for individual instruction, Tufts allows his AAU players to use the indoor batting cages whenever they want, year-round.

“I try to make it so if you don’t get your money’s worth, it’s your fault,’’ he said.

Sam Boyles can be reached at samuel.boyles@globe.com. Correspondent Logan Mullen also contributed to this story.