This is the first of what we hope will be regular pieces discussing issues affecting or related to Mid Penn lacrosse teams. We hope that you find them informative and thought provoking. Let us know how you feel in the comments section below.
This winter has been one for the books. Maybe not the record books, but one to remember for all lacrosse players and teams in the mid-state area. Continual snow fall and blustery temperatures have put a stranglehold on the mid state for much of the past month. The affect of large droppings of snow in February lingered as well.
With the official start date of practices being March 3rd for PIAA, spring sports programs are forced to deal with these issues head on. Gym time, indoor turf fields, parking lots, chalk talks, and other solutions become the norm.
Some of the major issues we have seen and heard from teams dealing with this are the following:
Gym Time: How late at night is it for lacrosse teams? Often times newer programs are lower on the tote-tum pole and forced to take later shifts (sometimes as late as 9/10pm) or at the very least deal with a rotation from other programs. Any player or coach knows that a gym is hardly a substitute for a field. And we only hope you don't have to use the dreaded no-bounce pink ball.
Parking Lots: An alternative yes. But ideal? No. Parking lots allow for some space but often times present safety risks (ice, cars, etc.) and a multitude of restrictions. Again, the surface limits what players can learn and practice to a very large extent.
Turf: A great option if you have it. Not every school does. And it is only a good alternative if the school can plow it, which limits it to even fewer schools that have this available.
Indoor Facilities: Again, a great alternative but available to a select few schools. Fees for this can be high as well as difficulties in getting reasonable times.
Couple these issues with the remarkable cold temperatures and wind chills and you have a recipe for disaster. Teams are limited, some much more than others, in how they can prepare for the season. Condition suffers, stick skills suffer, and strategies are half of what they could be under normal circumstances.
CONSEQUENCES
So much rides on wins and losses for Mid Penn title hopefuls right out the gate. One loss can haunt you the whole season. Is it really fair to say that it's an even playing field for all teams and participants with such varying options for preseason practice?
Injuries are far more likely for unconditioned players as well as. Perhaps more worth noting on this is the fact that younger players need as much full field time as they can get prior to game play. Transitional play is often the fastest and hardest hitting part of the game. With a large difference between the Mid Penn's elite programs and teams who are still trying to establish themselves it present an obvious risk when an experienced underclassman is put into an unfamiliar situation against stronger teams and more experienced players. This is unavoidable to an extent, but we do not need to accentuate it by having an uneven preseason.
Scrimmages are considered an excellent way to prepare for the season and determine lineups. Many scrimmages were cancelled and not rescheduled this season due to the weather/field conditions. This is a loss of a vital part of preparing your team for the season.
Game cancellations. The schedule is already packed for Mid Penn teams often times playing back-to-back or 3 games in 4/5 days. Throw in early season cancellations due to cold weather, we've seen quite a few already, and squads are going to have even heavier schedules in the coming weeks. This becomes a safety and academic issue very quickly.
SOLUTION
With the current schedule and setup there are not a whole lot of options. We can't tell every team to get turf or pull money together for equal indoor facility time. What we can do is consider moving the start of the season back a week or two. Weather changes, or it is supposed to at least, drastically in March (lion to lamb). Additionally some of the best lacrosse weather is in May which is a month the majority of teams only get to play a week in. It seems obvious that we could delay the start of the season for warmer weather earlier in the season. If the argument is it will be to hot during districts and states, night games are a simple solution to that.
We'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas on this topic. Use the comments section below!
- The Team at Harrisburg Lacrosse
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