Schools

Inclement Weather Wreaks Havoc on High School, Rec Sports

Athletic directors and coaches have been scrambling all spring to get in matches, games and tournaments. The same can be said for Greenfield's park and rec department.

Scott Otto has the The Weather Channel’s website bookmarked on his desktop and checks it repeatedly throughout the day.

The Greenfield High School athletic director and assistant principal has got the district’s grounds keeper, the city’s Park and Recreation Department, and the district’s facilities coordinator Stuart Wilke on speed-dial.

And Otto has been in constant contact with his high school spring coaches and other athletic directors, all of whom, thanks to this spring’s persistence rainfall, have been forced to coordinate and orchestrate a complex schedule-juggling performance unlike many others.

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“It’s been a nightmare,” Otto said. “I’ve talked to other ADs in the conference and coaches that have coached 25 or 30 years and none of them can remember a spring like this.”

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Otto said the school’s varsity and junior varsity teams have had a combined 40 contests postponed because of the weather. As of now, all the softball and soccer games have been rescheduled, but some sports have not been as lucky. Two track meets have been cancelled, as has one tennis tournament and two golf matches.

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And that doesn’t even take into account the number of practices that have been altered, practices that started as far back as March 4 for some sports.

“Right now, we’ll play wherever and whenever because the kids deserve to play, and they are itching to get out there,” Otto said. “My goal is to get all the games in. But as it gets really, really bad, we might have to cancel some games.”

Otto credited his coaches for keeping the players upbeat and competitive through the ugly spring, and was thankful for the school’s indoor facilities, which include five full basketball courts on two gyms, plenty of space to be divided up into makeshift practice areas for all the sports.

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But what the area needs is a nice, long dry spell. And a few extra degrees on the thermometer wouldn’t hurt either.

“Even when it doesn’t rain, it might look like we’re OK, but to get on the field and turn it over from the long winter, grade it out … those machines can’t go on there because they’ll sink and make ruts. It’s got to be dry for more than a day or two, and warm enough to thaw out the ground.”

Rec department playing catch-up, too

The situation hasn’t been as bleak for Greenfield’s Park and Recreation Director Scott Jaquish and his department, but it certainly hasn’t been sunny either.

“In my 20 years here or so, I never remember a spring like this where we’ve been this far behind,” Jaquish said. “Then again, last spring was so nice, maybe everyone has a tendency to compare (this spring) to that.”

Unlike the high school sports seasons that begin in early through mid-March, Jaquish’s department has had the benefit of starting later, after most of the early April showers that saturated the area. That doesn’t mean the rescheduling headaches have not already begun.

The city’s softball leagues started last Friday. Already, a full slate of games both Sunday and Tuesday were rained out. Those games, Jaquish said, will likely be rescheduled by tacking on an extra week to the season in early August.

The parks director added some other youth programs, like soccer, have been moved indoors at area elementary schools in recent weeks because of the rain, cold and field conditions.

In addition, the department has also gotten a late start on getting parks ready for the general public; playgrounds and picnic areas haven’t received all the attention they are used to, Jaquish said.

“People are clamoring to get out and do things, even on some of these more questionable days, but it hasn’t been a nice spring, yet,” he said.


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