The Blue Valley School District has had five snow days this year, which have led to a multitude of practices, games and activities being canceled all around the district. The district office has a multitude of policies in place to determine whether or not a snow day should be called. If a snow day is called, athletic teams are allowed to practice if they practice later in the day, and these snow day practices cannot be mandatory.
District Athletic Director and Administrator Matt Ortman is a member of the district administration team that helps determine what to do in the event of a snow day.
“We [district office] talk to the city to see how they think the roads are, and we talk to our grounds and maintenance folks to see if they were able to clear parking lots to salt sidewalks to make it safe for people to arrive for an event,” Ortman said.
Ortman feels that snow days should not affect postseason seeding or outcomes.
“We love to have events, and once we determine if everything is clear it becomes a difficult conversation between the superintendent and I to determine what time we can start activities, and when we can do so safely,” Ortman said.
Of the BVN activities and sporting events that have been canceled, the basketball teams had the most games canceled. BVN Varsity girls basketball head coach Ann Fritz has been coaching the team since 1995.
“Every winter we have to deal with some sort of snow day,” Fritz said. “We typically practice later in the day though, so it’s safe for people to get out and travel.”
The Girl’s basketball team’s game on Jan. 9 against Blue Springs South was canceled. The team’s game against Blue Valley West was scheduled to be played on Jan. 11 at BVN. Due to impending inclement weather on the 12, both girls’ and boys’ games were moved to be played at Blue Valley West on the 11.
“You know, it gets to be a pain having to reschedule all of the games, and sometimes we’re not even able to reschedule it,” Fritz said.
This leads to fewer games that the team can play to help their record before the regular season ends, which can hurt a team later in the season. Snow days also can lead to players having too much downtime and not being able to practice or work out. Fritz is not a fan of snow days, not just because games get canceled, but because they do not get the practice time.
“They get lazy, I don’t think snow days make them feel rested because, on snow days, you just lay around and watch Netflix. It’s kind of good to get them out and into the gym, so they can get moving around,” Fritz said.
