NewsLocal News

Actions

Constant rainfall impacting youth sports on Central Coast

baseball field muddy.JPG
Posted
and last updated

The constant rainfall is impacting youth sports across the Central Coast.

Specifically, the quality of baseball and softball fields, which has affected the scheduling of games.

"Our opening days are actually scheduled for this next Saturday," said San Luis Obispo Softball Association President Dan Sutton.

"We actually had to cancel Opening Day, so that was actually scheduled for Saturday," said SLO Youth Baseball President Matt Weber.

The pageantry of opening day is floating away with constant rainfall on the Central Coast.

"Due to the weather we've had in the past couple of weeks, we've actually had some teams that haven't been able to get a practice in," Sutton said.

"Every time we get the field ready to go, we get another storm in," Weber said. "And it just brings big puddles and ruts and things that aren't good for baseball."

The San Luis Obispo Softball Association and SLO Youth Baseball are finding themselves in a logistical nightmare with constant scheduling issues.

"Even if it rains the day before and it's sunny the next day, a lot of times we can't get out on the field just because it's still wet. We're concerned about the safety of the players, and we don't want to do any damage to the facilities," Sutton said.

"Today was actually our first games scheduled and all the fields are closed because you can't play with water on the field," Weber said.

They say the games will continue to be postponed instead of canceled.

"We'll get back together and try to make up as many of these games as we possibly can," Sutton said.

"We postponed. We try to keep the 10 to 12 games for every team," Weber said.

Field maintenance is a key focus in order to play the games.

"We actually had a crew of four or five dads out here Saturday cutting lines in to get the water channeled and put a sump pump in to get the water actually off the infield," Weber said.

The goal is getting the kids back on the field as soon as possible.

"We want these young ladies to be out on the field," Sutton said. "We want them to be learning the game of softball."

Coast Little League said they will monitor the weather leading up to their opening day on March 11.

The San Luis Obispo Softball Association has 132 softball players impacted by the weather.

The SLO Youth Baseball League has 600 players.