This winter, especially in the last month, has had no shortage of snow or school cancellations, despite Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction that spring was right around the corner. On February 2, the groundhog didn’t see his shadow, meaning that spring would come early; however, Punxsutawney Phil could not have been more wrong. On March 19, the day before the first day of spring, there was a school cancellation due to the three inches of snow. These cancellations do not only pose a problem for the end of school (pushing the date back 5 days from the original date) but this particular snow “storm” also affected the practice schedule of all spring sports which started on March 18.
Spring practices have traditionally been inconsistent with times and sometimes location, depending on each sport. Now, Athletic Director Bill Tompkins faces serious problems reorganizing six sports to different locations as all the baseball/softball fields, Turco Memorial Field, and all other fields in town are covered with snow. Coach Tompkins says, “I have done the best that I can but it is challenging. Finding space to workout for six different teams is very difficult”. So far, Johnson Middle School, Bird Middle School, Old Post Road Elementary School, and the high school gyms have been used to accommodate many sports. Teams have also used empty parking lots around town, the DPW, and the weight room. Coach Tompkins said, “Boys lacrosse has been using the parking lot by the town pool; softball, the DPW parking lot.”
Since it is the beginning of the season, athletes of all grades are divided because the teams have not been decided yet, so there are several separate practices per sport. With games right around the corner, it is essential that these teams practice at some point during the day because, without the turf, there are no lights for night practice.
Most of the snow has melted; however, wet muddy fields still pose a problem. The only field open is Turco Memorial Field. All grass fields are still closed due to the mud, the worst being the lower field and the back end of Turco because of the lack of sun. If players practice on these muddy fields, they could risk injury and damaging the fields even further. Practicing on wet fields can create holes that make it harder for them to be in good conditions for the rest of the season.
During the first week of tryouts, Coach Tompkins said, “Most other towns are in the same boat as us. Our teams will hopefully get on the practice fields to work on their fundamentals before the first games. However, it is doubtful that the baseball fields will be ready in time for their games early next week”. Coach Tompkins could not have been more right. The boys baseball game was moved from their home field at BMS to away on Natick on Tuesday, April 2.
Usually, the advent of warmer weather and clearer skies is the harbringer of a new spring sports season; yet, this year, the cold and snowy weather will give Walpole a major disadvantage from the onset of the season. Most schools in the conference enjoy new schools and sports complexes that can be used in this dismal weather, while WHS Athletics will have to deal with the problems that this dreary late winter weather brings to the outdoor fields of Spring sports.
