Rain Rain Go Away...

         

     It is Friday night on Long Island and the first soccer game of the weekend has already been cancelled due to Tropical Storm Whoever that is drowning us at the moment.  Between my team and my boys we have 1 Little League baseball game and 4 more soccer games to get through in the next 48 hours.  I am one of those weird people who, although we have multiple games every weekend, still HATES to have a game cancelled.  Yes, I enjoy games in the rain and my favorite is in the snow.  (True story- LOVED the snow game in March up in Yonkers.)  My home club has turf fields, so we rarely cancel and I have developed a "Soccer Weather Ego".  This is the ego where I snicker and sneer when I get the emails that my little guy's baseball or football game has been cancelled, and I quickly go to Facebook to "brag" that us "REAL" athletes, aka soccer players/coaches, will be braving the elements and playing through the rain, wind, snow...insert bad weather choice.  Now I find, that I FB jinxed tonight's game and am hoping everyone hangs tough tomorrow.  In my (arguably warped) thinking, I hope everyone realizes that it is more important to get the last weekend of games in for the season than worrying about some water on the field.  (I HATE rescheduling games- ESPECIALLY once the season has ended- imagine notifying a kid he didn't make the tryout cut but needs to show up for our rescheduled season ender.)  With all of that said- I sit here this rainy Friday night, have texted my "other sons" and their parents that if I don't notify them the game is cancelled they had better be at the field, and I have extra time on my hands to remind everyone just what the rules are for these rainy game day situations.
                   As a parent, you may wonder what the big deal is or why the coaches wait so long to make a decision about rescheduling a game.  I am sure some of you have had the experience of driving 45 minutes to an away game, waiting 1 hour and then being told to drive back home because the game is indeed cancelled.  Yes, you are right, it is the mind games of the inconsiderate coaches who just want to waste your time and gas.  Ok, that is only partially true,( just remember what you say about us coaches when your child's team has a losing record before being too tough on us when we play the game to try to get our team an easy "W" in the standings.) **DISCLAIMER TIME:   As a Soccer Mom AND Soccer Coach I have at some point thought/uttered/agreed with the majority of the complaints from both sides of the field- REMEMBER COACH MOMMY LI'S #1 RULE- COACHES AND PARENTS ARE HUMAN** There really is a reasonable explanation as to why things play out the way they do when the weather is bad.

                   The Coach of the Home Team has the most responsibility, and for many clubs even that coach is not the one making the final decision, but he is notified by the Club if the fields are open or not due to weather.  So first, the coach must wait and see if the club closes the fields or not.  He has until 2 hours prior to the  scheduled start of the game to notify the referee and Away Coach if the fields are not playable. Very often it is not even up to the Home Coach if the fields are closed, but the Club determines if the fields are open or closed due to weather. If the Home Soccer Coach has not been notified by his club or has chosen not to cancel the game by the 2 hours mark then it is IMPERATIVE that all players show up at the field.  Even if mom/dad/ and every other reasonable person has determined the weather is not appropriate for youth soccer, the player must show up at the field.  Once the 2 hours prior to game time mark has past (ex. game time is 10am, Home Coach has until 8 am to cancel the game),  the only person who can cancel a game is the referee.  Both coaches must show up to the fields and have with them the minimum allowable number of players to field a team for the game (depends on age: ex.  for U12 and above 9 of 11 players are required to start a game).  If either team does not show or have enough players, the referee will call the game a forfeit with a win to the team that showed up with enough players.  THIS is why many home coaches will not cancel a game unless the club closes the fields.  Every home coach dreams of the day the other team fails to show for a rainy day game.  It is a free win for that team. 
                    What should occur if the game has not been cancelled, is that both teams arrive at the fields with enough players to play and the referee will then determine if the field is playable.  If the referee determines the field us unplayable- the game will be considered a rescheduled game and the coaches have about 1 week to agree upon a new day and time to play and submit the information to the League office.  It is the responsibility of the Home Team to find a field available at an agreed upon date and time.  In the situations where the coaches can not agree, the League can become involved and possibly determine that one of the coaches is being unreasonable and the League will then issue a forfeit against that team or more likely assign a date and time that the game must be played.

 
                  I have provided a very diluted and basic explanation of the process.  It is more to help parents understand just what is going on behind the scenes on days/nights like this.   Although it seems like such a simple decision, as you can see, there is so much more going on behind the scenes.  In addition, as you can see, even if you ended up taking the 45 minute drive to wait 1 hour for the referee to send you home, you are actually doing it for a reason.  With that I wish you all a dry, safe, and fun last weekend of league youth soccer play on Long Island!  Come and comment and let us know how your weekend end games went.