When is okay to leave in the middle of a tournament because of rain?

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May 15, 2016
926
18
The tournament was never cancelled because of the weather.

Most of the games in pool play were completed, but two games were called with 25 minutes left in each because of the rain. There was one game that continued playing even as the puddles were forming by the first base coaches feet (and probably other puddles we did not see).

Sunday the teams were told to show up at 9AM even though the fields were not playable. By noon one field was ready, so the two pool play games were finished, one after the other. The announcement was the seeding would be determined at 1PM and bracket play, on one field, would begin immediately after that. With the forecast calling for rain in the afternoon, a number of the teams that drove hours to get to the tournament decided to leave. The TD said if any team leaves they would not be allowed to participate in this tournament in the future.

Is it reasonable to expect a team that drove many hours to get to the tournament to stay on the chance it was not going to rain more and the games would end very late in the day?
 
Jul 16, 2013
4,659
113
Pennsylvania
It has been a rough summer in regards to weather. Last weekend we played 3 games on Saturday and 0 on Sunday. This weekend we played 1 game Saturday and 1 game Sunday. Both tournaments ended early.

Unfortunately it seems as though every tournament director has their own policies and essentially makes their own rules. Personally, if a team gave me enough notice, altering the bracket really wouldn't be that difficult. Based on the OP, it sounds like these teams decided they were leaving well before the 1 pm goal time. Assuming they discussed the situation with the TD, I personally don't see anything wrong with it. If they simply left and didn't tell anyone, my opinion would be different. The biggest challenge, in my opinion, is making sure all of the remaining teams are aware of the changes. For example, if there are 16 teams in the tournament, and 2 decided to leave, it is possible that all 14 other teams may have altered game times, fields, or both. Communicating this with each team may be challenging, but not impossible. The less notice the teams provided to the TD, the more confusing this will all become.
 
Feb 7, 2014
547
43
It sounds as though those teams that left made a fair decision. As FP26 said "seems as though every tournament director has their own policies." The reality of these tournaments is that most of these events (and teams) have little oversight and regulation leaving ample ground for manipulation and bad actors.
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
The TD said if any team leaves they would not be allowed to participate in this tournament in the future.

Sounds like an empty threat, good luck too them on any for the future tournaments. Do not like being threatened., our team is never going back anyways.

Weather is a tricky thing. We host a lot of games a tourneys, please do not rain too much. If it rains a lot we can get 2 of our 5 fields playable, it is always a mess.
 
May 1, 2018
659
63
Sounds like an empty threat, good luck too them on any for the future tournaments. Do not like being threatened., our team is never going back anyways.

Weather is a tricky thing. We host a lot of games a tourneys, please do not rain too much. If it rains a lot we can get 2 of our 5 fields playable, it is always a mess.

agreed. If you can't handle a situation regarding weather....not the type of tourney we want to play in anyways.
 
Aug 19, 2015
1,118
113
Atlanta, GA
I understand why TD's don't want to call games off until the last possible second (especially if they're going to have to refund money), but sometimes the writing is on the wall. If I know I've got a 5 or 6 hour drive home on Sunday and he's not deciding until 1 PM (and the forecast looks unfavorable), I'd probably bail too. Nobody wants to wait around twiddling their thumbs until then knowing that it's likely to get called off anyway. But I would of course let someone know we were leaving. And if it was a rinky-dink tournament or sanction, I wouldn't really care if he said we couldn't come back. I don't think the "big" tourneys would have that policy.
 
Jun 11, 2013
2,619
113
It would seem like TD would like to have a couple of teams leave to have fewer games. When most TD's say you "won't be able to play again with us", they are leaving off the "unless you pay the 595 entry fee"
 
May 15, 2016
926
18
Unfortunately it seems as though every tournament director has their own policies and essentially makes their own rules.

One of the coaches of a team local to the tournament told us Saturday this tournament has the reputation of pushing it, keeping games going much too long in the rain. And they consistently have problems with the fields flooding causing chaos in organizing brackets and the like.

Personally, if a team gave me enough notice, altering the bracket really wouldn't be that difficult. Based on the OP, it sounds like these teams decided they were leaving well before the 1 pm goal time.

Our team decided before noon we were not going to stay. When they told the TD, that was when we were told we would never be allowed back in this tournament. Oh well.
 
Jul 16, 2013
4,659
113
Pennsylvania
Our team decided before noon we were not going to stay. When they told the TD, that was when we were told we would never be allowed back in this tournament. Oh well.

Stating that you are never allowed back is BS, in my opinion. Unless a team does something egregious I cannot imagine telling someone something like that. But telling them at noon that you are leaving could have created a domino effect for everyone else. For the sake of discussion, let's say that your team had one of the 1 pm start times. Now the TD has three choices (possibly more). He could go to your opponent in the 1 pm game and tell them that they will not play until a later slot -- that team may not be too happy about having their delay extended. He could go to another team and move them forward into the 1 pm slot -- that could be difficult if the players went back to their hotel or something similar. Or he could simply count it as a forfeit and give your opponent a bye -- may not make the other teams in the tourney too happy when they find out they have to play an extra game beyond what your scheduled opponent has to play now. Personally, if I was the TD, I would have wished you safe travels, classified it as a forfeit, contacted your opponent with the information, and moved on. As someone that has developed schedules for a few tournaments, I do realize that there is almost no possible way to satisfy everyone, especially during weather related situations, and especially when a $8 trophy is at stake.
 

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