When spring break started, the beginning of spring sports was on the horizon with athletes excited about the potential for a great season. However, the eagerness for their sport soon turned to disappointment when they arrived to snow-covered fields and cold temperatures.

While the logical next step has been to move practices indoors, it has been almost a month since most sports started and the gym is still home to practices.

On average, the Twin Cities usually see 0.2-0.4 inches of snow on the ground when April comes around, but this year was different. The Twin Cities alone saw between 11-15 inches of snowfall in one weekend. The uncharacteristic weather has forced games to be cancelled, practices to be delayed, and students returning home late because the only gym time they could get ends at 8:30. While we can’t blame this weather on anyone but Mother Nature, it’s time for MSHSL to move the start date of spring sports.

While it doesn’t have to be pushed back a month, a week or two could be a precaution in case winter decides to extend itself again. Indoor practices can help athletes perfect their skills, but the flat gym floor doesn’t prepare athletes for the different terrains they will play on over the course of the season. The MSHSL modified the rules to salvage spring seasons for example, baseball will be playing two 5 inning games back-to-back to make up for the games they missed. From a logistics standpoint, this rule makes sense, but they don’t account for the injuries and overuse of players during those games. It’s time for the MSHSL to restructure the spring season to effectively use the time.