The arrival of March, April, and May usually signifies a transition of seasons: the thawing of winter’s snow and cold to the warmth and renew of life accompanied by spring. It also means the arrival of spring sports such as baseball, lacrosse, soccer, and track & field. This season, as usual, athletes were eager to bask in the sunshine while practicing after experiencing the monotony and confinement of winter. However, the weather had different plans. Mother Nature seemed to have fallen behind schedule this year, and the effects of her tardiness were experienced by many athletes at Nazareth.
Last year during the spring of 2012, Nazareth athletes of all kinds were complaining about the suffocating heat and scorching sun that resulted in dehydration, serious sunburns, and fatigue. Those 90 degree spring days of yesteryear seem to have been a fluke or at least the extreme opposite of what the weather has been like this year.
Spring sport players this year have dealt with rain, snow, sleet, and hail. And some may chalk up this miserable weather as a typical “Chicago spring,” but girls’ lacrosse played a game on April 19th while the weather switched from snow, to hail, to sleet, and back to snow again. Snow and hail at the end of April. Not normal. More baseball and softball games have been cancelled because of rain and snow than in years past. The floods created by the showers on April 18th forced Nazareth to cancel all sports events and practice for that day.
This gloomy and cold weather has also forced teams to practice indoors – where there are not enough available spaces to utilize. To actually have practice, the Track & Field teams were left with the Bridge and K3, running in circles around the school. Baseball and softball resorted to practicing in the gym late into the night to accommodate both varsity and junior varsity levels of each sport. Boys’ and Girls’ Lacrosse claimed the new tennis courts and practice fields since the side grass field was flooded. Those teams who did venture out into the awful weather, had to dress in layers, looking like eskimos, to stay warm.
The weather has definitely affected the morale of all the spring athletes and even caused some injuries. Natalie Cozzie, a freshman on the Girls Track & Field Team, received an injury as a result of having to practice running indoors on K3. While racing her friend during a sprint, Natalie realized she didn’t have enough time to slow down. “To stop myself, I reached for the door handle of an open door,” says Natalie “and somehow, my foot got caught by the door and I ended up twisting my ankle. I was out for about a week and a half with that injury.”
Mother Nature isn’t just wreaking havoc on our energy levels but also on our physical bodies. This year’s spring athletes are in dire need of an energy booster – in the form of some nice weather. The forecast for these final weeks looks promising, but then again, we never can be sure with this Chicago weather.