With the recent rainy weather in Belmont, struggles have come to spring sports teams, including canceled games.
There have been a few days of light rain in the past week, but teams at Carlmont have still had to change how they do things. One of the teams that has been impacted the most is softball. The rain creates a lot of puddles on the infield and outfield, making it difficult to play on.
“The rain causes a lot of maintenance problems to our field because it makes the grass muddy and messes up the infield dirt, which makes us have to put the tarp over the field, which can take a long time,” said Elsa Holland, a sophomore on the JV softball team.
This creates challenges because a large chunk of practices are focused on moving the tarp on and off the field. In addition to this, a couple of the JV softball games have been canceled, including their game on March 29 versus Woodside. It is estimated that the Bay Area got 1.5-2 inches of rain that day, according to the East Bay Times.
No practice on the field has left some of the players feeling like they’re getting rusty on their skills.
“Without a field to practice on, we have to rely on conditioning to fine-tune our skills. Although conditioning is beneficial towards keeping us in shape for the upcoming games, the on-field practice is also extremely necessary,” said Zoe Wodarczyk, a junior on varsity softball. “The rain is preventing us from being able to practice on the dirt.”
As this week continues, the rain is predicted to slow down and both the JV game on April 3 and the varsity game on April 4 are still scheduled.
The rain also affects the population of our stands. People are less likely to come to the games if it is raining, which it has been for the past three games we have had.
— Ellora Mehta
On the other hand, lacrosse players have been braving through the storm. Because of the quality of the turf, none of their games or practices have gotten canceled.
“The only thing the rain really affects is the way we play,” said Ellora Mehta, a sophomore on varsity girls lacrosse. “For example, the lacrosse stick becomes slippery and for people without grip it is hard to catch and throw the ball.”
The stands have also been close to empty due to the rainy weather, resulting in a lack of fans, according to Mehta. However, the girls will continue their season with less rain as the storm fades.
Practices and games for teams that stay inside the gym and in the pool have continued since the rain is not heavy enough to cancel these.
There is light rain predicted for this week but after that, there is no more forecasted and this hopefully means better practices and games for the Scots.
Rainfall by Siena Culligan
