Southwest Washington high school sports teams have been in a holding pattern for much of the week, with at least 65 events postponed Wednesday through Friday.
When those events, most being league basketball games, will be made up is up to athletic directors who will be scrambling to get contests completed prior to postseason play.
“Winter coaches are going to get to feel what it’s like to be a spring coach,” said Cale Piland, athletic director for Evergreen Public Schools.
The difference, though, is there is protocol for rescheduling baseball and softball games — “You have to do that all the time,” Piland said — but there is no such protocol for winter sports.
“It’s unprecedented, having to make up all these games,” Piland said. “We were already making up games as it was.
“Some weeks are going to feel like state tournaments, when you’re playing four teams a week.”
Athletic directors and coaches would prefer to avoid playing too often, but there might not be any other option.
“The biggest struggle is just the dates, with trying to get everyone in the gym at the same time,” said Albert Alcantar, the athletic director for Vancouver Public Schools. “We’re trying to line up the dates, but trying not to play four or five games, back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to back.
“We want our teams to play but is it fair to play three nights in a row or four nights in a row? We’re coming down to a time crunch.”
For example, the 4A Greater St. Helens League was going to have three dates this week in both boys and girls basketball — with four games each on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Weather cancelled school on Monday for the two schools that would have had games that night. Those contests were rescheduled for Thursday.
Then came one of the biggest snowstorms to hit the region in years Tuesday night through Wednesday, which led to schools being closed for the rest of the week.
While some leagues did get in games Monday and Tuesday, the 4A GSHL lost its entire week of scheduled boys and girls basketball games.
The school ADs are talking about the best way to proceed, Piland said.
“There’s not going to be a perfect solution to the rescheduling,” he said. “People are going to have to get used to playing quite a few games in a short period of time.”
Alcantar said he could see the possibility of no more non-league basketball games. If there is a date available, a league game should have priority.
Of course, with the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association using RPI numbers to seed the state basketball tournaments, all regular-season games are important.
Another concern is practice time. The athletes in basketball, wrestling, bowling, gymnastics, and swimming have not been able to practice this week.
Athletic directors will be coming up with a plan in the coming days. Athletes, coaches, and fans should prepare for unusual scenarios.
“It’s going to be far from ideal, that’s for sure,” Piland said.
Clark County Championships wrestling postponed
One of the biggest events of wrestling’s regular season has been postponed.
The Clark County Championships, scheduled for Friday at Saturday at Hudson’s Bay High School, have been called off this weekend.
The boys and girls tournaments, featuring every team from Clark County, are traditionally part of a two-day event. Local schools closed for a third day in a row due to this week’s snowstorm, which would have wiped out the first day of the tournaments.
Athletic directors are trying to finalize details to hold the event next week.
The Clark County Wrestling Championships were postponed after the first day in 2005 due to an ice storm. The event resumed two weeks later.
