Blizzard Freezes Spring Sports

After two long weeks of blizzards, cabin fever, and shoveling several inches of snow, Alexandria’s record breaking snow storm finally begins to melt away. Even though spring is right around the corner, the warm weather is not the only thing on the minds of T.C students. With an abundance of snow still on the ground, many sports teams had to move inside to try out for their sport. Because of the limited space for tryout use and the school hosting district basketball playoffs, many students and coaches felt as if the tryouts should have been postponed. “I think that it would be a good idea to postpone the tryouts because many kids have not been able to get their information or prepare on their own time for tryouts.” said sophomore softball player Phuongnhi Tran. Because school was out for almost two weeks due to the snow storms, many students didn’t have a chance to get their eligibility cards and correct paperwork until a week before tryouts. But the week of tryouts wasn’t the only thing bothering coaches and students. The outcome of the upcoming season was also a concern. “I’m afraid that our fields won’t be clear and the season will be affected; there isn’t going to be enough room in the gym with all of the spring sports,” Tran said. This wasn’t a concern for some of the coaches though. For the boy’s soccer team, varsity coach Martin Nickley had a plan in full effect before the tryouts even started. “After making sure everyone has their paperwork in order we plan on using the Chinquapin circle for some fitness and running and hopefully using space to play small sided games or just use whatever space we can find,” Nickley said. It’s the same for any sport; each coach will be trying to find a way to conduct successful tryouts, even if it means using the Gym or minimizing the times they meet throughout the week. “First of all, you want to make sure that we have a great tryout and that’s my first concern and it will be difficult to be ready for the upcoming games with the field being filled with snow and water. I think it will have an effect but I hope it will get out of here soon so we can get back to business.” Nickley said. The snow has deterred spring sports from their usual tryout plans. But each team is optimistic that even with the snow they can still have a great season.