OPINION: WIAA Should Move Start of Baseball, Softball Seasons

As snow hit the ground on Monday, more games were crossed off the high school sports calendar, an all-too-common occurrence that should have the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association board of directors strongly considering changes, at least to baseball and softball.

Track and field, soccer and golf are also impacted by the weather, but not to the same degree. As we stand today with April more than halfway over, area baseball and softball teams have had a difficult time getting practices in, much less games. The Arcadia baseball and softball teams, for example, have combined to play just five of their 19 schedules games so far. For at least two of those, it took some luck, combined with field management and schedule changes to get them in. As of April 18, the Whitehall baseball team had only gotten one game in. 

For several of the teams, the games they did manage to play came with very little practice time outside of a gymnasium. We’ve seen a lot of errors from area teams so far this spring and multiple coaches have indicated that isn’t a coincidence. 

This doesn’t happen every year, but it happens enough that change should be strongly considered. In 2018, the Independence/Gilmanton baseball team played its second game on March 29, then didn’t play again until April 24. The Blair-Taylor softball team didn’t play its first game until April 23. In 2013, the sports schedules were so mucked up, half the conference games had to be cancelled. In 2019, the Arcadia softball team advanced to the sectional final round and still managed just 16 games. With more time on the field, that team could’ve been in the state tournament. 

That’s just this area, what about teams in northern Wisconsin?  

What we’re going to see this year is a rush to get games in. Teams will be playing games nearly every possible day with doubleheaders often mixed in. If it rains on a Wednesday, they just won’t practice that week. If a player is injured for a week, he or she will miss five games. 

The COVID-19 pandemic made life difficult in many ways, but it also gave us answers on how we can make life easier. The 2021 spring sports season began at the end of April and ended at the end of June. While coaches first complained about having their seasons shortened, the truth is that with the April cancellations out of the way, it went as well as any we’ve had in recent years.

Perhaps beginning at the end of April is too extreme. There have been plenty of seasons where games start being played consistently in mid-April. But there’s no way the seasons should be starting at the end of March.

I offer two possible proposals. 

One is a sweeping change that includes moving the fall sports seasons back. A motivator for this is the complaints I’ve heard from several area football coaches who have said the season begins too early. Many athletes are still competing — or finishing — summer baseball and basketball leagues. It’s difficult for them to immediately begin football with literally no break. I spoke to one parent who had a child not go out for football because he was coming back from a summer baseball trip the night before the football season began. 

As the school year begins later, the football season has began earlier and the result has been fewer players to the point where most area schools have a hard time fielding junior varsity teams.

The girls golf season would have to stay the same, but the other fall sports could easily be pushed back. That would then push the winter sports back — which would also benefit the state tournament series with more people being able to make the drive. 

I understand that is probably way more drastic than the WIAA would ever consider.

But what about just pushing baseball and softball back a bit? Instead of starting in late-March, begin the seasons in mid-April. Instead of ending in mid-June, end in late-June. There will still be cancellations, but not nearly as many and teams would at least be able to practice outdoors so they can be prepared when the games actually come.

An added benefit would be that those athletes who participate in multiple sports wouldn’t have to choose between running in a sectional track meet or playing in the regional baseball or softball tournament. 

Moving at least the baseball and softball seasons back to a time when the games can actually be played seems like a win for everybody.