Heavy rain forecast forces high schools to consider rescheduling football games

 

WATERFORD, Wis. (CBS 58) -- As the forecast across Wisconsin became clearer this week, high school athletic directors across the state faced a tough decision: should they reschedule their team's football games?

Some of the heaviest rain is set to fall Friday, but some school officials ultimately concluded the threat of lightning was minimal, so they kept their contests as originally scheduled. Others moved up their games to Thursday, hoping to avoid the risk of delays and games played on soggy, shredded fields.

"My Wednesday plans got completely thrown out the window," Jill Stobber, the athletics and activities director at Waterford Union High School, said. "And it was a lot of reshuffling."

If it were any other week, schools would also have the option of bumping their games back to Saturday. Instead, this is the last week of the regular season, and the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) notified schools any games played after Friday would not count toward playoff consideration.

Stobber said Waterford Union was hopeful one more win would assure the 6-3 Wolverines of a first-round playoff game at home.

"Making sure players weren't gonna get hurt, preserving the field a little bit," Stobber said. "But really, getting the game in and not having to worry about lightning."

Stobber said she didn't want to risk the grass surface in Waterford being in poor condition for both the season finale against Beloit Memorial and a possible playoff game.

She added there was also concern about putting spectators at risk if severe weather rolled in during the game.

"We're out here where we don't have a lot of buildings around," Stobber said. "So, getting the fans into situations where they need to be safe was a factor as well for me."

WIAA Assistant Director Tom Shafranski said the association didn't want to delay its reveal of the playoff brackets because that could bog down logistics for teams.

"School administrators, obviously, have a lot of plans to make as far as arrangements for either hosting a playoff game or traveling to a playoff game," he said.

Shafranski added the WIAA has been in touch with numerous schools over the course of the week. Another issue complicating athletic directors' decisions was all the moving pieces that come with rescheduling a game.

"For buses, for their student bodies, for their communities," Shafranski said. "Everybody that's involved, officials, crews, getting them set."

Most schools, however, opted against moving their games to Thursday. That included Kettle Moraine High School in Wales, which was preparing for a massive showdown with Muskego. 

Both teams were undefeated at 8-0, meaning the season finale would decide the Classic Eight conference championship and affect the teams' chances of securing a top seed in the playoffs.

Kettle Moraine Athletic Director Ryan Tomczyk said the game's high stakes were a consideration, but player safety was paramount.

Tomczyk said after extensive conversations with Muskego officials, the schools were confident the risk of lightning would be minimal Friday night, and Kettle Moraine's two-year-old artificial turn surface could withstand heavy rain without affecting the quality of play.

"My crystal ball is kind of broken, and trying to figure out, watching all the different weather services and whatnot, and just trying to figure out what's the best spot," Tomczyk said. "We decided to stay put with Friday and hope we don't have severe weather."

Kettle Moraine Head Coach Matt McDonnell said he was told Wednesday the game might move up a day, but learned later the game would remain set for Friday. Even if there is a downpour during the decisive contest, McDonnell said his Lasers would be ready for it.

"I think you kind of just talk about it. We've practiced in crappy weather before, you know," McDonnell said. "You do wet ball drills and that type of stuff."