Spring Athletics Preparing For Season Despite Cold
RAPID RIVER---The Spring of 2013 was pretty much the "spring that wasn't" for Upper Peninsula high school sports teams. If you recall, heavy snow and lots of rain came in March and April, and some games and meets in May were downright bone-chilling. Well, it feels like the Spring of 2014 might not happen at all. It's the middle of March, and there's huge piles of snow everywhere, and the frost is between 60-and-90 inches deep. According to the Michigan High School Athletic Association calendar, practice could begin on March 10th for all spring sports. That's boys tennis, boys and girls track, boys and girls golf, boys baseball, and girls softball. In fact, the first dates that teams can begin their regular seasons are this week: tennis and golf were on March 17th, with the the rest March 19th. That obviously won't be happening around here any time soon. But the kids have begun practicing inside the gym, hoping for warmer conditions soon. How do you squeeze that many teams...along with junior varsity teams...inside the gym. Escanaba High School Athetic Director Dave Wilson is hoping for better weather soon. "The (spring) coaches and I have talked, and we're just going to make the most of it and hope that after Spring Break, the weather will break," Wilson said. "The problem is that it's tough to make up the (cancelled) games because we have other games scheduled." Said Gladstone Athletic Director Matt Houle back in early March: "We have to be creative. It takes a lot of cooperation between the coaches. Each team has their own gym time." And time does march on. The Braves boys track team will have its first practice on Monday, and the Gladstone baseball team rented heavy equipment and got volunteers to clear the snow off of Don Olsen Field earlier this month. In Rapid River, the girls softball team went out with the plows and tractors earlier this month to clear off the softball field of most of its snow. But for practicesm well, it's the gym or bust, for now. But when it warms up.... |