For those near any local high schools during the 4 to 8 p.m. hours these days, take a look around at the outdoor athletic fields and facilities. There is so very much going on if the weather is dry and cooperating. Student-athletes are everywhere.
If the weather is wet and foul outdoors, there even is more going on in the crowded inside of schools, or on parking lots, as practice locations and times are adjusted.
Practices each afternoon and into the early evening began in recent days for the many high-school athletes and teams participating in the spring sports season. That would be baseball, softball, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, track and field. Even some dry-land crew activities might be ongoing.
Practices for a few sports, often at the junior varsity level, sometimes linger until 9 p.m.
So this is a busy time at schools during those hours, with the varsity and some junior varsity practices and workouts, and players and coaches coming and going all over the place.
All of the fields and courts are full, and that won’t change for a while, until late May or early June when the springtime’s regular seasons, then the playoffs start ending.
Remember last year? The beginning of spring-season practices were delayed a few weeks because of COVID issues and schedule changes. Contests for teams didn’t begin until April, unlike mid-March in normal spring campaigns.
This year things are back to normal, at least so far. So expect actual outside spring games and athletic events to begin this week and next, in all sports, with weather permitting of course. Usually there’s a mid- to-late March snowfall of some degree that messes up spring athletic events – like baseball, softball games and tennis matches – for a bit.
For now, all looks good. Spring high-school sports have sprung.