Adapting to the weather

Now, it’s spring rains that are having an impact on high school sports as the spring season ramps up with most of the activities — baseball, softball, track and field, and boys’ tennis and golf — all outside and all susceptible to the weather.

“What a mess,” said San Mateo boys’ golf coach Jimmy Ikeda of the wintry weather the last several weeks. “You have to get creative.”

Ikeda said he gathered his team in a classroom Wednesday to go over the new rules of the game that have been implemented for 2019.

“What else are you going to do today? Might as well cover [these new rules]. A kid who knows these rules might have an advantage,” Ikeda said. “Even golf courses are closed. It’s so sloppy. Even the driving ranges (are closed). It’s just so soft that you hit balls and they plug and the (ball retrieval) machine can’t pick them up.”

Most baseball and softball teams are in a similar predicament when it comes to weather, but there are more practicing options.

“If it’s not raining hard, you can still stay on your throwing program and be in the (batting) cage,” said Lenny Souza, manager for the Aragon baseball team.

There is also the opportunity to get on the infield, at the very least, between waves of rain. Souza had already canceled practice Wednesday, but was wondering if he gave in too soon because the rain had cleared out around 3 p.m.

“[Drainage on our infield] is pretty good now. There’s a nice slope to right field,” said Souza, before adding the outfield remains a no-go zone.

“The outfielders have suffered the most, but I feel everyone else is getting their reps in,” Souza said. “You have to think everyone is in the same boat. Who isn’t in the same situation we are?”

Sacred Heart Prep isn’t necessarily in the same position. The Gators are the only program in the Peninsula Athletic League that has an all-weather field. But even SHP manager Anthony Granato said his program isn’t immune to weather, either.

“As long as it’s not actually raining (hard), we’ve been able to get on the field,” Granato said. “But we have spent a lot of times indoors and not consistently outside.”

Granato said a lot depends on the timing. Like everyone else involved with prep sports, many coaches, managers and athletic directors are amateur meteorologists and with all the latest weather technology available at the press of a button, coaches have good idea when weather is supposed to hit and then adjust accordingly.

But Mother Nature doesn’t always follow the forecast models. Granato said he’ll schedule an indoor practice when the forecast suggests rain during practice. But sometimes the rain comes later or doesn’t last as long as expected and instead of upsetting the rhythm of practice by moving everything outside, Granato said he’ll just continue with the indoor training.

But if there is one thing all the coaches have in common is that they simply roll with whatever the weather does.

“I’m not really trippin’ on [stuff] that I can’t control,” Souza said.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 344-5200 ext. 117.