Football is renowned for its stories to brave the elements, whether it means “Bear Time” in Chicago or in the legendary “Ice Bowl” in Green Bay. But the sports and cold high school sports in the north of Illinois occur most of the Renaissance season.
“People talk about football weather, but I have trained baseball matches that are much colder than any football match I trained in my 10 years of football in Harlem,” said Scott McCloy, who is now Harlem’s baseball coach. “In baseball, we train in the rain, the cold and the gréil. This is the only way to bring your matches. ”
Baseball, softball, tennis boys and women’s football play meteorological roulette as spring sports in Rockford. Harlem opened its baseball season by playing a sunny 68 degrees on March 18. The next day fell to 44 degrees. Only six of the next 31 days eligible to play (not counting on Sunday) were greater than 60.
“There is no greater disparity between autumn and spring sports and the way they start,” said Tracy Palmer, who trains girls in Auburn in the fall and boys tennis in the spring. “Ninety degrees for one and snow for the other.”
The wind – especially in tennis – can be the worst. It makes it feel so cold. And this also affects the game. There have been frequent days this year with winds greater than 20 MPH. No surprise, since March (with an average wind speed of 9.1 MPH) and April (9.2) are the two most windy months of the year in the north of Illinois.
“It’s not a timely time for sports,” said Palmer. “But you have to find a way to appreciate it. If you don’t, the other child will find a way to appreciate it better than you.”
And schools do not call a game (or match) because it’s too windy. The next day will probably be just as bad. Or, worse, he could rain; April and May are two of the most rainy months of the year in Rockford.
“We are not playing in ideal situations,” said McCloy de Harlem. “Most coaches will play in everything that is over 35 years old. It is mainly the wind in early spring. It can be brutal here. “
Later, the season becomes, the more he warms. But from next year, the IHSA will end the big school seasons for baseball and softball a week earlier as a move to play the four courses in State the same weekend.
“We are screwed by a week next year,” said Hononegah softball coach Dennis McKinney. “Many people are frustrated. At the bottom, they can play outside in March. Here we have our mittens and our coats. ”
And yet this year was better than most. Not hot. Not comfortable. But generally playable. Most baseball teams only had to reprogram or cancel a few games.
“It is not as much as you think, but it was windy, cold, windy every day,” said Lena-Winslow’s baseball coach Nick Werhane. “It bats you all the time.”
At least, no one uses wooden bats anymore. Remember what point it was hard to remove a fist ground with a wooden bat in the cold?
“It would suck for sure,” said Win Cass Maverick. “It would not be fun.
“The cold can make things difficult, but we just want to be outside. You just want to go out and play.”
It seems to be the common feeling. The good weather does not make sport fun. Sports are their own pleasure, regardless of the weather.
“Even when it’s cold, you can’t complain,” said Hononegah’s first goal player Nick Santis. “You and the other team are both under the same conditions. I love being here, playing baseball and competing with everyone. ”
Of course, it’s fun to play. But it’s more fun to play in good weather. Interior sports never have to worry about it. Fall sports start with some of the best times of the year. Spring athletes are not blind; They know that they are stuck with the worst conditions of all secondary athletes.
“It’s raining, snow or just really cold,” said field player in the Hononegah softball center Peyton Klikno. “It stinks. I become jealous. All the autumn sports have a good weather. They don’t have to worry about freezing each match or to have the games canceled. For us, something with the weather changes all the time.”
Matt Trowbridge is a Rockford Star Rockford sports journalist. Send him an email to mtrowbridge@rrstar.com. Follow it on X, formerly Twitter, at @Mattttttrwbridge.