Rained out: June's record rain puts damper on youth sports

Excessive rain and inclement weather this spring are causing a high number of sporting event cancellations for some suburban park districts and high schools.

As of the middle of last week, 180 adult league softball games had already been rained out in Naperville and it is likely that number will surpass 300 by season's end, setting a record, said Sameera Luthman, park district marketing and communications manager.

While recreational athletes have had to deal with rain and storms, no one knows the trouble weather can cause for sporting events better than Elk Grove High School girls softball coach Ken Grams. The team was playing for third place in the state tournament when the game was pushed back and then canceled, giving both teams third place honors.

"I would have loved to play the game," said Grams. "I understood - Sometimes, decisions are tough to make, but their hands were really tied."

While rain caused widespread trouble, the storms were spotty and some schools were not hit as hard with cancellations.

"Actually, we did pretty well this year," Lake Zurich High School Athletic Director Rolly Vazquez said.

Even so, the weather threatened some games even there. The girls soccer team, for example, had a game where the danger from lightning held a game up for a couple of hours, with players, parents and coaches packing up to leave. Then the sun came out and the game ended up happening, Vazquez said.

For park district activities around the area, most villages and cities follow a similar procedure. As many games are rescheduled as possible, but oftentimes things are canceled.

"If we do cancel - we would extend the season or we may have an extra game during the week," said Jason Meredith, Arlington Heights athletic supervisor, of the district's youth league soccer.

Dave Dick from the Naperville Park District said that one of the adult softball leagues has already had six days of games rained out, pushing the end of the season from July 9 to July 20, if there are no further rainouts.

And one of the games that had been rescheduled due to rain was rained out itself, he said.

Sports such as soccer and football can often be played in the rain. Tennis, baseball and softball are more vulnerable to the weather, said Lake in the Hills Recreation Supervisor Trevor Bosack.

Schaumburg Park District Athletic Supervisor Brian Feldott attested to this as well, saying, "it depends on which sport we're talking about."

Both Naperville's Luthman and Geneva Athletic Supervisor Mike Contreras have had times where workers spend the day getting fields ready, only to have the evening games rained out.

Contreras said that Geneva has a hotline that is updated with game and class cancellations for people to check in on.

It is not just the rain that has an effect on activities.

Cold weather has led to swimming class cancellations at the Algonquin Park District, for example. Sarah Stefan, recreation superintendent, said that the safety of the children in swimming lessons is an issue when cold weather sweeps through the area.

For most events, though, every effort is made to reschedule activities so that participants get the most out of the programs they sign up for.

"We do everything we can to make it up," said Wheaton Park District Athletic Director Brad Keene.