Question for people who live in parts of the country where it can be tough to get kids outside on a field at certain times of the year (like now where I live -- fields have been alternately mud or covered in snow for the past week and a half and may remain that way for the next 10 days or so, which always seems to be the norm at the start of the spring season): What do your kids do to get outside and train as a team (or even inside) if weather makes your fields inaccessible on a regular basis? My son's club is midsize in a midsize town that is at least an hour away from any comparably sized town. Our fields are owned by a protective park district, which shuts them down if they're wet. We don't have turf fields and can't afford to build any. And the local indoor facility is only occasionally an option (usually booked up and difficult to get space in on the fly for even one team, much less an entire club's worth). The club can sometimes get gym space, but for his team (u13) it isn't a substitute for time on a real field with games just ahead. Ideas? Off-the-wall suggestions?
I didn't phrase the question too well there: For clubs in areas with regular weather-related field access problems (during the outdoor seasons) that don't have their own turf fields or indoor facilities, what do you do to make sure your teams can still practice? Spend to reserve alternative field space indoors, or spend to have access when you need it to open space outside that the owner won't mind your kids destroying when it's muddy? Or ...?
Occasionally we have used tennis or basketball courts when the fields are closed. Players wear flats and do lots of footskills. It is a problem if they are wet at all because the surface gets very slick.
We’ve had about a foot of snow in the past week and won’t have temps above freezing until next week, so I feel your pain. Practices start on the 15th, but we have our own indoor facility that will be utilized although with reduced practice length due to not enough space for more than one team to practice at a time. In years past, some of the coaches have tried to find any sort of grass park area (many have soccer goals) that dried out faster than the city owned soccer complex that they won’t allow any clubs on until they give the green light. The grass areas at these parks were not to the point of being in great shape, but good enough and better than what the soccer complex was at the time. Another club in town will rent HS gyms. Not the greatest substitute IMO, but it beats them sitting at home playing FIFA. Maybe try to get a little film work, or breaking down some professional games?
Can't say we have this problem in Florida. But if I was in the midwest I'd go looking for some sort of large indoor agricultural center. Like a place where they might have indoor rodeos (yea I just learned there is such a thing a few days ago). You might try looking around to see if there are any large indoor agricultural type facilities with dirt floors inside. You can always probably find a Barn where the team can at least do Rondos. Roller Skating Rinks, Barns, gymnasiums small weight lifting gyms with aerobic workout rooms that might be empty Covered outside basketball courts amphitheatres stage areas (rondo) Hockey Rinks (without ice???) Large Churches with indoor basketball courts, etc... Exhibition Halls
Thanks for the input here. Open park space might be the best option, if we can do it without making the park district that controls our fields unhappy. I've tried on my own to rent unused school space after hours and church space and had no luck, either because of lack of interest on the part of the facility or prohibitive costs. Paying to hold space somewhere in case you need it -- which is my preference -- is a tough sell for a lot of people in the club because you might not wind up needing the. But this problem comes up most years. And it's becoming all too regular for my son's team to head into its first tournament having had almost zero practice beyond winter indoor technical training, and run directly into teams that have clearly been keeping regular practice schedules (first tournament is less than two weeks away, and the local forecasts are just miserable all the way through).
We've been using the parking lot at the local pool for baseball practice. Not ideal, but it provides more space than the gym to work on things like base running and outfield play. May not work as well with soccer but it's a way to get a lot of space cheap.
Our club has it's own indoor fields. However I run Rec Soccer and we get free use of school gyms - as long it's within a reasonable time frame.
Any grassy areas which aren't proper "fields" you can get access to? Maybe talk to a local school? My son was once on a club team that had no seniority or clout as far as field space/time, so one season they had practices outside of a local elementary school. FAR from ideal but better than nothing.
Re comments from Volk and Bigred, I wish local schools were a little more cooperative (that said, there is one field at a school I've used in the past with no problems). Full credit to the club DOC for coming through today with at least a few hours a day for several days for u13 and older teams at a turf football field owned by a local private school and some indoor gym space at a community center for some of the U-littles teams. At least a short-term answer.
Our club doesn’t do shit…raining, snowing, soggy, whatever, you’re just SOL…know problem every spring (especially), but club still makes no attempt or arrangements… For my son’ team (U16), The parents have been arranging to rent some indoor field space…of course this out of pocket (about $10-13 per kid, per 1.5 hour session). We have done it twice already in the last couple of weeks and will probably do it again couple more times before things dry up…its either that or nothing….
Really frustrating here. Supposed to have a game Monday and Tuesday, which were cancelled due to cold. The thing is, I am certain we played in colder. Not saying I was wanting to be out in it, but could be a hassle for rescheduling (especially if we get some rain). Re: Practice, we don't get any team praxtprac in during the spring or fall due to inclement weather. Having had a two sessions of futsal, I can see that a lot of stuff could be done indoors and wish all coaches or teams had better access to gym space for that purpose.
On the bright side, found out my oldest that plays soccer really hates the rainouts and really wants to play. Another daughter is more like "hooray, no soccer" (sadly she might be better than her older daughter at this age...but not for log if she doesn't work or stops playing).
DS's team rents space from local high schools. Their combined football/soccer fields are turf. We've also gone indoor. DD's team rents gym space from either the YMCA or the local college.
Wow -- at least we're not the only ones in this boat. I envy the clubs that own their own facilities (though there's a downside to that, too, I'm sure). The rented school football field I mentioned was fine yesterday, but to get all the club's U13-19 teams a practice, there were four or five teams at a time sharing the field for 90- minute sessions over several hours. Far from ideal. Re Wulf's comment about no club action, I'm a fairly squeaky wheel about this, and I'm not the only one in the club. A mom came to our annual meeting this week to suggest in particular that the club devote a piece of the budget each spring to space in some spot (or spots) that we lock up in case we need it to practice through bad conditions.
Is anyone familiar with how they address this in Europe or otherwise outside of the United States? Do they have he appropriate facilities or do they not concern themselves as much with the weather (i.e. practice and play in the elements more) at these younger age levels?
I have three daughters playing -- this week our U12 had all four scheduled games cancelled to be rescheduled (though she did get two practice sessions end); our U9 got in 1 of 2 games (no practices), and our U7 had her one game and all practices scheduled. While not unused to the snow or cold, it's a little later than normal. It seems like tomorrow should be better, but with cold/snow today they have already cancelled for Saturday. Hopefully the reschedules won't be a nightmare and whatever would prevent us from playing/practicing in stays away.
I've been surprised that my older son has lots a couple of track meets to cold this spring (including one today) with temperatures in the high 20s and into the 30s. With it dry, I'm really surprised they don't run, given where we live (not to mention that they serve as fundraisers for the host teams). And there's no way to make them up, they're just cancelled.
lol, down here in FLORIDA they actually cancelled a practice two days cause it had gotten pretty cold. It was cold. One of the parents on our team is from England and he was beside himself. He was like half the season is like this in Europe.... lol