By Tony Dondero
Enterprise reporter
Another blast of wintery weather Jan. 16 sent area high school athletic directors scrambling to reschedule canceled events once again.
Snow and ice in late November, a windstorm and power outages in December and now more snow and ice in mid-January have wreaked havoc with sports schedules.
“It’s brutal but we’re making do,” Shoreline School District Athletic Director Don Dalziel said. “It basically creates a not ideal scheduling situation for teams. We’ve got to get games in when we have open dates.”
Through Jan. 16, the Shoreline School District and Edmonds School District had each canceled school six times.
Shoreline canceled classes Jan. 11, 12 and 16 after the latest bout of bad weather.
“At this point we have some wiggle room but we’re running out of wiggle room if we have (more of) these kinds of situations,” Dalziel said.
The biggest challenge in rescheduling games and matches in the winter is that girls basketball, boys basketball and wrestling teams all use the same gym, Dalziel said.
“That’s the challenging part, making sure the gym’s available,” Dalziel said.
Spring sports often have to be rescheduled, but it’s easier then because baseball and softball teams don’t share fields with other teams.
Whenever schedules need to be reworked, finding dates that suit multiple districts can be difficult as well.
“It becomes very cumbersome when trying to find a date that works for all parties involved and officials,” Dalziel said.
The one league game on tap in the Shoreline School District for Jan. 16, pitted the Shorecrest and Shorewood boys basketball teams, so finding a suitable date is not as complicated, Dalziel said. The game will be played at Shorecrest Jan. 31, the only day that didn’t require one of teams to play three games in a row. Shorecrest still will have to play back-to-back games though.
“That’s going to be tough with the games backing up,” said Shorecrest boys basketball coach Brian Fischer. “When we have to start playing them back to back nights we won’t be as prepared as we would having a practice going into each game.”
Playing a normal schedule with games on Tuesday and Friday makes it easier to get in a rhythm, Fischer said.
Still, he believes his team has begun to adapt.
“Maybe at this point we’re starting to adjust to uncertainty because we’ve had so many days like this,” he said. “Its starting to affect us less than it did earlier in the season.”
Three nonleague events scheduled for Jan. 16, Shorecrest and Shorewood boys swim meets, and a Shorewood wrestling match, were canceled and will not be made up.
Since Dec. 20, the Shorewood boys swim team has held only four required practices, head coach Scott Kelley said.
“It’s been pretty brutal and not having as many meets is tough on guys who aren’t as experienced,” he said. “It’s hard to have a successful season with that.”
The Thunderbirds hold optional practices when school’s out of session and about half of the 39 swimmers on the roster show up, Kelley said.
Still, “we’ve been doing alright with meets,” Kelley said, adding that the T-birds competed at the Kentridge Invitational where they placed 14th on Jan. 13.
Usually the team has a lot of meets in January, so the break is nice, he said, although, “it would be nice to get them to come to practice.”
Sally Otto, the Shoreline School District athletic secretary who has worked for the district for 35 years, said the weather this winter has caused more cancellations than she can remember.
“It’s a shame that it’s hit us so much this year,” she said. “That’s the way it goes.”
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