The recent shift in the weather pattern has put area athletic directors in quite the quandary.
Thursday’s blizzard knocked out not only that day’s games, but the ones on Friday as well. Indoor track championships have been pushed all over the place. The Class LL meet is now Wednesday because of Sunday’s storm threat, and the State Open has been scheduled for Feb. 20.
For St. Paul athletic director Dave Dennehy, it has been particularly difficult to find open dates with officials available for his girls basketball team. With only so many open dates available up until the NVL Tournament next Saturday, Dennehy was forced into some tough scheduling.
The St. Paul girls start a stretch — weather permitting — of four games in as many days today with a home matchup against Watertown at 3 p.m.
Sunday — weather permitting — the Falcons host Ansonia at 2 p.m. On Monday, St. Paul is scheduled to host Derby at 7 p.m. On Tuesday, the Falcons are supposed to finish the regular season on the road at Derby in a 7 p.m. contest. The NVL Tournament is supposed to start Saturday.
Here’s where the problems, and headaches, begin for athletic directors like Dennehy.
The National Weather Service has Bristol under a Winter Storm Watch from 7 a.m. Sunday morning to 7 p.m. Monday. A storm of that duration could wipe out both the Sunday and Monday games. Waterbury is under a Winter Weather Advisory from 12 a.m. Sunday to 12 a.m. Monday.
Again, the NVL Tournament is scheduled to start Saturday. The last day for a regular season game to count toward CIAC standings is Feb. 21, the following Tuesday.
A lot of information for the casual fan to digest. Picture how not easy that is for athletic directors.
The St. Paul girls are lucky in one respect — three of the four games are at home.
Here are some more local examples:
Waterbury Career girls (6-11): The Spartans need two wins in their final three games to qualify for the state tournament. The WCA schedule is Kennedy on Monday, Wilby on Tuesday and Crosby on Wednesday. Three games in three days, as of right now.
Crosby girls (5-11): The Bulldogs need three wins in their final four games to qualify for the state tournament. Crosby’s schedule is Sacred Heart today, Sacred Heart again on Monday, Holy Cross on Tuesday and WCA on Wednesday. Four games in five days, as of right now.
And here are teams trying to get into the Top 8 for the NVL Tournament:
Holy Cross (17-1) has pretty much locked up the top seed. They are scheduled to play Wilby on Monday and Crosby on Tuesday.
St. Paul (13-3): See above.
Torrington (13-4): The Lady Raiders play a Monday, Tuesday and Thursday schedule against Woodland, Watertown and Avon.
Seymour (13-5): The Wildcats have games scheduled for Tuesday and Friday. Seymour plays Woodland on Tuesday, then Derby on Friday.
Watertown (12-5): The Indians are at St. Paul today. Watertown is slated to play Naugatuck on Monday, followed by Torrington on Tuesday.
Kennedy (12-5): The Eagles are scheduled to face WCA on Monday, Sacred Heart on Tuesday and Wilby on Wednesday.
Sacred Heart (11-6): The Hearts are scheduled to play Crosby twice, today and Monday, followed by the season finale against Kennedy on Tuesday.
Eight teams get in the NVL Tournament, and there’s still time for things to switch around.
Wolcott (9-9): The Eagles host 4-win Oxford today, then are scheduled to play Tuesday at 7-win Naugatuck.
Woodland (8-9) has a rough schedule, with games against 13-win Torrington, 13-win Seymour and 12-win Kaynor Tech.
Derby (7-10) has 13-win St. Paul twice (Monday and Tuesday), followed by 13-win Seymour on Friday. The Lady Raiders need a win just to get into the state tournament.
Naugatuck (7-11) has 12-win Watertown on Monday, followed by 9-win Wolcott on Tuesday. The Greyhounds also need a win just to get into the state tournament.
