oregonpackfan
12-20-2008, 10:12 AM
Like the midwest and northeast, a combination of snow and ice have hit the Pacific Northwest past week, though the amounts of snow here pale in comparison to the rest of the country. This past week, many schools were closed all 5 days.
This has also created havoc for high school sports. All of the games and most of the practices have been cancelled. This is also the time of year where some teams travel for holiday tournaments. Many of those tournaments have also been cancelled. Just think of reserving hotels, bus and plane tickets months in advance only to have the weather throw a huge wrench into the works!
Have high school sports been cancelled in your part of the country this week?
Preps: Practices also get canceled
Doug Binder, The Oregonian, December 20, 2008 1:57 a.m.
At Lakeridge, athletic director Ian Lamont and basketball coach Dave Nuss reworked one contingency after another to keep the school's tournament alive before every option reached a dead end and the event was canceled Friday morning.
"I have never disliked snow so much in my life," Lamont said.
The tournament was scheduled to start Wednesday. As late as Thursday afternoon, with two schools already pulled out, Nuss had devised a round-robin format that he thought could work. He e-mailed parents and volunteers about the schedule changes.
But then Camas (Wash.) pulled out because of its impending Friday school closure. And Friday morning, North Medford was getting ready to depart when officials there decided against participating.
"We were hoping to make it work," Nuss said. "(North Medford) wouldn't drive up. I can't blame them. The forecast doesn't look good for Saturday and Sunday."
The tournament was intended as a fundraiser for the Pacers basketball team and was expected to produce between $1,500 and $3,000. T-shirts were ordered for all of the players. Concession stands were stocked. A hospitality room was planned.
Post Falls (Idaho) was coming the farthest to play, and school officials there pleaded with Lamont early in the week to not let three inches of snow derail the tournament. But then Lamont got word that Post Falls was buried under 34 inches of snow and was shut down as well.
Tualatin, Benson and Southridge were also expected to participate. All eight teams have a three-game hole in their respective schedules.
The Portland Interscholastic League posted dozens of schedule revisions on its Web site Friday. Some of the activities scheduled for next Monday and Tuesday were canceled by Friday because of weekend forecasts calling for more snow.
Sheldon was scheduled to play at Jesuit in a matchup of top-10 girls teams Friday. Jesuit, a private school in Beaverton, was open Friday, but Eugene School District 4J was not. The game was called off.
"This is my 29th year, and we've never been out of school all week (because of weather)," Glencoe athletic director Scott Ellis said.
Team preparation suffers
Meeuwsen said his boys team has held 10 practices since the start of the season. The team has a game against Beaverton on Monday, weather permitting, but he's not sure whether he will be able to hold another practice before then.
School districts that close for the day usually shut down after-school activities as well. In Hillsboro and other places, school closures can mean that practices are canceled as well.
Meeuwsen said he couldn't organize a practice at a private gym or require his players meet somewhere because of the district's policy.
"As a coach you want to be with your kids," he said. "If you don't have practice, or a game, you have a job where you're not doing anything. It's very frustrating. But you have to see all the angles and you don't want to put (students) in situations that aren't safe."
As a result of the truncated schedule, Meeuwsen anticipated using simplified training between now and the start of Northwest Oregon Conference play in January.
"We may have wanted to put in different traps or presses by this or that date," he said. "Now we probably won't do that."
The next big push for athletic directors will be trying to find as many replacement dates on the calendar as possible, assuming they can find opponents and back-logged officials to make it work.
For that, everyone needs the snow to disappear.
"Hopefully this weather will break," said Mayo, the officials commissioner, "and we'll be able to get back into a normal flow."
Doug Binder: 503-221-8161; dougbinder@news.oregonian.com
This has also created havoc for high school sports. All of the games and most of the practices have been cancelled. This is also the time of year where some teams travel for holiday tournaments. Many of those tournaments have also been cancelled. Just think of reserving hotels, bus and plane tickets months in advance only to have the weather throw a huge wrench into the works!
Have high school sports been cancelled in your part of the country this week?
Preps: Practices also get canceled
Doug Binder, The Oregonian, December 20, 2008 1:57 a.m.
At Lakeridge, athletic director Ian Lamont and basketball coach Dave Nuss reworked one contingency after another to keep the school's tournament alive before every option reached a dead end and the event was canceled Friday morning.
"I have never disliked snow so much in my life," Lamont said.
The tournament was scheduled to start Wednesday. As late as Thursday afternoon, with two schools already pulled out, Nuss had devised a round-robin format that he thought could work. He e-mailed parents and volunteers about the schedule changes.
But then Camas (Wash.) pulled out because of its impending Friday school closure. And Friday morning, North Medford was getting ready to depart when officials there decided against participating.
"We were hoping to make it work," Nuss said. "(North Medford) wouldn't drive up. I can't blame them. The forecast doesn't look good for Saturday and Sunday."
The tournament was intended as a fundraiser for the Pacers basketball team and was expected to produce between $1,500 and $3,000. T-shirts were ordered for all of the players. Concession stands were stocked. A hospitality room was planned.
Post Falls (Idaho) was coming the farthest to play, and school officials there pleaded with Lamont early in the week to not let three inches of snow derail the tournament. But then Lamont got word that Post Falls was buried under 34 inches of snow and was shut down as well.
Tualatin, Benson and Southridge were also expected to participate. All eight teams have a three-game hole in their respective schedules.
The Portland Interscholastic League posted dozens of schedule revisions on its Web site Friday. Some of the activities scheduled for next Monday and Tuesday were canceled by Friday because of weekend forecasts calling for more snow.
Sheldon was scheduled to play at Jesuit in a matchup of top-10 girls teams Friday. Jesuit, a private school in Beaverton, was open Friday, but Eugene School District 4J was not. The game was called off.
"This is my 29th year, and we've never been out of school all week (because of weather)," Glencoe athletic director Scott Ellis said.
Team preparation suffers
Meeuwsen said his boys team has held 10 practices since the start of the season. The team has a game against Beaverton on Monday, weather permitting, but he's not sure whether he will be able to hold another practice before then.
School districts that close for the day usually shut down after-school activities as well. In Hillsboro and other places, school closures can mean that practices are canceled as well.
Meeuwsen said he couldn't organize a practice at a private gym or require his players meet somewhere because of the district's policy.
"As a coach you want to be with your kids," he said. "If you don't have practice, or a game, you have a job where you're not doing anything. It's very frustrating. But you have to see all the angles and you don't want to put (students) in situations that aren't safe."
As a result of the truncated schedule, Meeuwsen anticipated using simplified training between now and the start of Northwest Oregon Conference play in January.
"We may have wanted to put in different traps or presses by this or that date," he said. "Now we probably won't do that."
The next big push for athletic directors will be trying to find as many replacement dates on the calendar as possible, assuming they can find opponents and back-logged officials to make it work.
For that, everyone needs the snow to disappear.
"Hopefully this weather will break," said Mayo, the officials commissioner, "and we'll be able to get back into a normal flow."
Doug Binder: 503-221-8161; dougbinder@news.oregonian.com