Almost time for HS softball

[Ken Krause]

Wow! It's hard to believe Monday is March already. It seems like just a couple of weeks ago I was goofing off on Christmas vacation, staying up way too late and sleeping in until morning. But now Shamrock Shakes are available at McDonalds (although I'm not a big fan of the whipped cream and cherry) and at least here in Illinois girls are preparing for HS tryouts.

It's been an interesting week. The time was spent getting pitchers ready to go in and show what they can do. (None of my current hitting students are in high school just yet.)

I'm actually looking forward to this HS season. My kids are all out of HS now so I don't have a family interest in it. But I am looking forward to getting out and seeing my students play. Yes, HS ball can be maddeningly bad (and maddenly political). Still, there's something fun about seeing kids compete for the glory of their schools.

The only thing that worries me is the weather. Right now there's close to a foot of snow on the fields, and more on the way. It might melt by March 24, which is the first scheduled game for our local HS. But even if it does I'm not sure the fields will be too playable. Too bad, too, because one of my students is opening against that local HS, which would be awfully convenient for me.

Oh well, it has to melt sometime. Doesn't it?

More...

 

[SBFAMILY]

We were looking at the 15 day forecast here and things don' t look good. We are lucky to have an indoor field house instead of a gym, but it sure would be nice to get outside before out first game. We have a scrimmage on 3-24.

 

[WinThemAll]

Ken,

It is Illinois! I am just hoping that the old adage "wait a minute and the weather will change" holds true.

 

[Cannonball]

Ken, first, you have to have a system! Here, players, parents, coaches, school employees all will jump in. Surfaces have changed and we use a combination of "bluff dirt" and turface and we're typically good to go if it is not raining at the time.

As a parent, you also have to have a system. I am responsible for the canopy, tarps, all bungee cords and ground ties and getting to a site early if we are on the road. Other parents bring the heaters. At our school, by the time I'm done we look like a Bedouin Village complete with everything including chairs, drinks, food, ... We really do have this down to a science. We also have the tarps for the dugouts for games on the road that do not have enclosed dugouts. I would mention that one problem does arise when heaters are provided to our team by some of the parents. Some umpires are leery that we are "warming our bats."

Players are a sight to see as well. We only have shorts with our uniform. So, my dd has the winter underarmor bottoms that she wears. Also she wears the winter underarmor tops below her uniform. There is a difference between the regular and winter underarmor. We have ear covers or head bands that cover the ears that match the uniform. Last year, we played games at 35 degrees. Our school typically won't start home games below 40. Of course that does not factor in wind chill. I'm all excited. My dd's a junior now and she is super hyper to get playing. I hope that enthusiasm continues throughout the season.

 

[Coach-n-Dad]

Wow, I was bummin' because it is looking like the first game of the season will be rained out - NEXT TUESDAY!!!

 

[amanda_cake]

Here in VA, the weather has been maddening for tryouts! It was snowing yesterday, which is NOT something we are used to let me tell you.

 

[Ken Krause]

There's more snow in the forecast here for the Chicago area. We've been hit twice this week. Unbelievable. Traditionally tryouts here are indoors, but they sometimes try to do a little outside. Not this year. At this rate I'm figuring mid-April before there's a game.

 

[amanda_cake]

We've got scrimmages week after next, it it doesn't snow or anything. It's going to be ROUGH if it is this cold, however.

 

[Ken Krause]

Amanda, be careful of your bat. Some bats don't react well to cold weather.

 

[amanda_cake]

I'm always very, very careful with my bats. Definitely don't want anything to get messed up there. Our coach lets us use her bat when it is cold... she's a nice young woman, but she hasn't grown up in the composite generation with bats that dent so easily. Might change her mind about us hitting outside in such cold weather when it is optional when we dent hers.