Wildwood (N.J.) High School's football field could hold a swim practice this morning as Hurricane Sandy continues to hammer the region with rain.
Courtesy of Twitter
The high school sports world is not exempt from the impact of Hurricane Sandy, one of the most devastating storms to hit the country's most densely populated region.
High school events from Florida to Massachusetts have been either
rescheduled or postponed because of the storm, which of course pales in comparison to the at least 50 known deaths caused by the superstorm.
In New Jersey today, the NJSIAA postponed this week's slate of high school football games and decided to move the playoffs back one week, according to Michael McGarry of the Press of Atlantic City.
The NJSIAA is also giving teams the option to play if they choose. Most coaches have told MaxPreps they hope to play next weekend.
The visitors grandstands at Brookfield (Conn.)
were demolished by Sandy.
Photo courtesy of Michael Collins
However, teams with games against opponents from other states (whose schedules may be booked next weekend) are trying to squeeze games in this weekend despite little opportunity to meet with players and practice.
Bergen Catholic's (Oradell, N.J.) game against
Friendship Collegiate Academy (Washington, D.C.), originally scheduled for Friday will likely be pushed back to Saturday while
St. Peter's Prep (Jersey City, N.J.) is aiming for a Sunday game on the road against
Dover (Del.).
The NJSIAA pushed back other fall sports one week as well, meaning that championships for soccer, gymnastics and cross country will also occur one week later than normal.
Wildwood High School, one of the southern most points on the New
Jersey coast and a popular tourist destination, has been hammered with
rain since early Thursday morning.
Wildwood has
endured significant flooding, as the school's football field was underwater by Monday morning. Athletic director Rich Hans told MaxPreps, "It's a little crazy here right now."
The craziest part, said Atlantic City football coach Tom Kelly, are communication issues.
"Half of the city is underwater," he tweeted. "Hard to get in-touch with my guys."
Among the many other regions effected:
* In New York, the Section 1 football semifinals were postponed Tuesday and originally penciled in to be played on Wednesday. However, games will not be played on Wednesday either, potentially jeopardizing Section 1's ability to qualify teams for the NYSPHSAA,
according to John Moriello.
Four days of rest are required between playoff games. Since the NYSPHSAA is locked into having its finals at the Carrier Dome on Thanksgiving weekend, it will be difficult for Section 1 teams to have enough time to conclude their playoff bracket in time to advance to the state playoffs.
Other areas of the state affected by the storm, including Long Island's Section XI,
remain in a similar holding pattern.
* In Connecticut, a ban on athletic events taking place on Sunday was lifted in order to get events moved up. The CIAC, the state's governing board, moved up many of its events from this week to Sunday because the last date to complete the regular season is Thursday.
On Wednesday afternoon, the CIAC
announced that the state playoffs would be pushed back and would not begin until Thursday, Nov. 8.
* After postponing events on Monday and Tuesday, the Rhode Island Interscholastic League resumed its playoff schedule on Wednesday with a girls playoff soccer match scheduled at Woonsocket. Football games will occur as scheduled this weekend.
* The Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association is resuming its playoffs for soccer, field hockey and volleyball on Wednesday and Thursday. However, it is taking precautions to hold the games only at sites that are suitable for competition. According to the MPSSAA website, "Many are not being played at the designated home school site but rather at a site with artificial turf."
*In Pennsylvania, the PIAA
is moving forward with its cross country championships on Saturday at Hershey Park. Football playoffs are scheduled to begin next weekend and should be
unaffected. Some regular season games scheduled for this Friday have
moved to Saturday.
Coaches are not excited about taking the field with very little practice time.
"Right now, you're talking about five days without any hitting," George Washington coach Ron Cohen
told Philly.com.
* In Massachusetts, the Boston City League soccer and volleyball playoffs were postponed earlier this week. However, things seemed to be returning to normal on Wednesday and the weekend's slate of football games appear nearly unaffected.
The rivalry game between Boston College High and Xaverian was pushed back on Saturday to a 2:45 kickoff, but only to accommodate students taking the SAT, according to Danny Ventura of the Boston Herald.
Even with a weakening Sandy, on Tuesday the storm inched inland across Pennsylvania, ready to bank toward western New
York to dump more of its water and caused more havoc during the night.
More than 8.2 million households were without power in 17 states as
far west as Michigan. Nearly 2 million of those were in New York, where
large swaths of lower Manhattan lost electricity and entire streets
ended up underwater — as did seven subway tunnels between Manhattan and
Brooklyn at one point, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said.
The
New York Stock Exchange was closed for a second day from weather, the
first time that has happened since a blizzard in 1888. The shutdown of
mass transit crippled a city where more than 8.3 million bus, subway and
local rail trips are taken each day, and 800,000 vehicles cross bridges
run by the transit agency.
Consolidated Edison said electricity in and around New York could take a week to restore.
CBS News and senior writers Stephen Spiewak, Jim Stout and Mitch Stephens contributed to this report. MaxPreps will update this story throughout the day as Hurricane Sandy continues to impact high school sports.
