Enough already.
Those two words have probably been muttered time and time again over the past month as area athletic directors get out their calendar to reschedule another baseball, softball or soccer game or another track or golf meet.
As of Monday, April 15, Waupaca High School had yet to host a single spring sports event, but athletic director Carl Eggebrecht has already rescheduled close to 50 events. The Comet baseball team was supposed to have eight games in the books at this point, but entered this week without having played a single game. Waupaca was scheduled to open the season April 16 at home against Freedom, but that depends on – what else? – the weather.
Although Waupaca, Weyauwega-Fremont and Iola-Scandinavia track teams have been able to compete in a handful of outdoor meets so far this season, many of them have been rescheduled or called off altogether.
The only team that has played several times is the W-F softball team, which played its first six games of the season a month ago in Florida, but has only played four times since then.
“We’re dealing with it the best we can,” Waupaca boys’ golf coach Tom Noltner said. “I actually talked to a couple coaches from our conference in the Appleton area. Their ADs won’t let them go into the gym to hit balls and the nets on their batting cages are too big, so they’re not even practicing. We are a step ahead of everybody, so we’re trying to make the best of it. That’s all we can do. Nothing we can do.”
Waupaca golfers were scheduled to head to Wautoma April 12 for the Wautoma Invitational, which was called off. The Comets’ match with Eastern Valley Conference teams from Freedom, Little Chute, Winneconne and Appleton Xavier at Winneconne’s Lake Breeze Golf Course originally slated for April 15 has been rescheduled for May 8. Waupaca is now scheduled to open the season Friday, April 19, at Berlin’s Mascoutin Golf Club, but most area golf courses have yet to open for the season.
Joe Sambs dealt with rescheduled games as a baseball player at Hortonville High School. Now, he’s doing it as Weyauwega-Fremont’s baseball coach.
“We’re just trying to get as many practices as we can, keep practice light and change the routine,” he said. “They want to get better. I see a lot of guys working to get better, even though it gets monotonous in the gym doing the same drills. They’re working hard and trying to get better.”
Waupaca softball coach Kevin Guyant said there’s a big difference between this year and last year, when his team was outside on the first day of practice in late March.
“You could really fit your team together,” he said. “It’s hard in a gym because we have so many spots to fill this year. There are things you learn outside that you can’t learn inside. We’re going to try some girls in different sports and see how they do.
“They’re getting antsy,” he added. “It’s tough to keep the girls entertained. You can only do so many drills.”
Tom Anderson has also dealt with the weather in his 20-plus seasons as coach of the Iola-Scandinavia softball team. His team had its first five games rescheduled or cancelled and finally opened the season April 13 by sweeping a doubleheader from Winneconne.
“I give the girls a lot of credit for putting up with five weeks of indoor practices and the uncertainty of playing any games from day to day,” Anderson said. “I really appreciate the effort the Winneconne School District, coach (Tim) Whitford and his staff put into getting the field ready to play. The field was in great shape considering the weather.”