Spring Sports Snowed In

By Michael McIntyre
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

Each year, the athletic department must deal with the harsh winter conditions of Vermont, which effect both in-season and pre-season teams.

Sports like Lacrosse, Baseball, and Softball are forced to share practice time inside the field house, while wondering if the season will pass without a single home game on the schedule actually taking place.

At the same time, Buildings and Grounds provide its best effort to prepare the playing fields. But according to Superintendent Gary Atwood, having only eight men simply is not enough.

"We work forty-hour days and sometimes go three weeks without a day off," Atwood said.

There has been significantly more snowfall this year than in recent times.

"We have daily equipment to move snow with; it is just that sometimes we do not have enough manpower. That is why we have to work longer hours. Our first thing is the safety of the students," Atwood said.

Student athletes and coaches are used to year-round snow. At times, though, it can be a severe inconvenience. Teams often begin a season without knowing how many games they will play.

Marc Klaiman is currently in his eighth season as head coach for the men's lacrosse team. According to Klaiman, he has never had a season with less than three home games.

Three home games may not seem like much, but it seems to be common ground for spring sports at Norwich.

"If you look at the history of the softball team, I think you will find that we average about three home dates," said head coach Dennis Tyner.

However, Tyner predicts that the weather could play an even bigger role this season than in years past.

"I do not think there has been a year when we have never played on the home field, but there is potential this year that we will not play a home game at all," Tyner said.

The men's baseball team experiences similar problems each season. First-baseman Eric Lewandoski has his own concerns about this year's schedule.

"I very much doubt that all of our home games will be canceled this year, but I do think a good majority of them in late March and maybe the first week in April will be rescheduled to a different area. I think those home games will be switched to the opposing team's field," said Lewandoski.

Although it is sometimes a reasonable solution, changing home games to away games does not always work, either. Many of the teams Norwich faces are also located in the northeast. Therefore, teams from Boston, Rhode Island, and Connecticut have their own weather problems in the spring. According to Tyner, the amount of snowfall this season is going to affect both home and away games.

"It is going to wreak havoc on our season. I am very concerned with what is going to happen," Tyner said.

But because the expectation to not play at home is so high, Athletic Director Tony Mariano tries to provide each team with a back-up plan.

"Mariano puts tentative travel on our home games, because there is a chance we will travel on those dates and go to a school that does have a field that is ready to play," Tyner said.

Game schedules are not the only part of the season that have to be flexible. Practices are equally affected by weather conditions.

"Last year, I do not think we had ten practices outside all spring because of weather," Klaiman said.

Indoor practices are necessary for all spring sports. However, limited space makes it difficult for each team.

All spring teams share Shapiro Field House for their practicing needs. Each team is allotted an hour and forty-five minutes of practice time per day. The limited time, along with the task of working around academic schedules, makes practices difficult to hold. Plus, the transition from indoor practices to outdoor games is a task in itself.

"We have a hard time, practicing inside all the time. It really showed when we were inside for a month and a half before we went to Florida. When we finally got outside we made a lot of mistakes that we could not work on in the field house, such as fly balls," Lewandoski said.

"The field house is a lot smaller than the playing field. It is a great resource, but it is not big enough," Klaiman said.

The softball team also makes a trip to Florida as part of their pre-season preparation.

"We go to Florida for two reasons. One is to get some extra games in because we know we are going to struggle back here. The other reason is to get a head-start on the other northeast teams," Tyner said.

Between the Florida trip and the constant rescheduling of games, Tyner lets all new athletes know from the start that the road will play a major role in their season.

"As far as traveling, when they come into the program I tell them up front do not expect to play any home games. That way, when we do play home games, it boosts their morale rather than hurt it," Tyner said.

With all of the hardships that accompany a spring season, though, recruiting does not seem to be negatively affected.

"We do definitely struggle with the colder weather. But there are a lot of people in the northeast that are used to it. They have played in cold weather before, and it does not really have a major effect," Tyner said.

According to Klaiman, Norwich is not particularly known for lacrosse, and therefore many of the athletes on the team discover the program after coming here.

"Weather does not affect recruiting. You have to want what Norwich has to offer first," Klaiman said.

Other teams, however, are not as fortunate and do in fact struggle with recruiting problems due to conditions.

"I think Norwich is one of the hardest places to get a baseball player to come and play, simply because of the weather," Lewandoski said.

Atwood and his crew have been working fourteen-hour days in an attempt to combat the weather, both for the purposes of clearing snow from the athletic fields and academic buildings. However, Atwood sees a major setback in the spring season this year.

"Our opening schedule here is April 3rd. We will be lucky if we see anything here on any field before the 14th. The fields are so soft that if we move the snow again, we will tear them up," Atwood said.

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