Snow and flooded fields put the Pipers sports in lockout mode this season.

Junior soccer athlete Greg Northrop said he can relate to the issues and the frustration Hamline’s athletics are experiencing because he is dealing with the same problems as a coach for his youth soccer teams. Northup coaches two youth soccer teams in St. Croix: U11 and U13.

He said his team’s first practice was scheduled for April 15, and their first game was scheduled on April 30. The league has pushed back practice dates because of the field. His team is scheduled to practice April 29 with their first game on May 14; however, he said it will be pushed back even further because of the snowstorm last week and the possibility it may even snow again this spring.

“I coach two teams and I’m basically going to have three games a week,” he said.

The season has adjusted its time frame to May 14 to July 10 to fit in his scheduled 86-day season to what has been constructed to eight weeks, and may be even shorter if there are additional schedule setbacks.

Northrop’s situation relates to the numerous athletics at Hamline that have pushed games back due to the fields, especially the Pipers baseball and softball as they typically play on grass.

“[They] just can’t play. There’s not enough turf fields, there’s only grass fields and [they] can’t play on grass fields with all the snow,” he said. “With all of the rescheduling processes, I know as a coach myself…there’s not much field time available.”

Sophomore track and field athlete Derrick Mora said the weather conditions have caused the track and field to make some unusual adjustments.

“It’s frustrating, the weather [conditions]…we can’t do our normal training routine,” Mora said.

They had to practice indoors and travel to other venues for their meets; two weeks ago the team was split up to compete at two different meets. Last weekend they canceled the Carleton Relay and traveled to Pella, Iowa for the Central College Meet.

Northrop also said the weather has affected others in his family. He said his younger sister, who plays soccer, was scheduled to play a soccer tournament in Indiana, but it was canceled because the fields were flooded. He mentioned that Wisconsin and Iowa also have snow and Illinois along with Indiana are dealing with floods.

“No matter where you go right now in the Midwest… you’re just out of luck because either the field is flooded or there’s snow on it,” he said.

Northrop brought up a point that turf fields help in this situations because once the show is shoveled off the turf, it’s playable. He mentioned how his sister got a few games in because they used a turf field, something Hamline’s baseball team had done as well. However, on grass it’s a different story because the field is still wet and muddy.

“It’s kind of interesting that all of a sudden this may create a demand for turf fields,” Northrop said.

Northup admitted he had a few concerns for the Pipers going into their revised schedule.

“The biggest thing is how do [they] stay in shape? And how do [they] stay ready to play? Because once the snow melts [they’re] going to be asked to play 18, 20 games,” Northrop said.

He also mentioned he’s curious as to whether the cramped up schedule will affect the performance of the Piper athletes and was concerned about how it would affect the athletes mentally and physically.

“Does it take away from their studies?” he questioned, “wear out [players] before the end of the season.”

Northrop revealed he feels for the seniors who are going through this situation.

“This is their senior year and they may not even get to play a full season,” he said.

Northrup mentioned he’s very curious as to how the season will play out for the Pipers and his U11 and U13 soccer teams.

“Once the snow clears up it will be interesting to see how everything plays out,” he said.

There are a few things in particular he will be monitoring once the weather breaks.

“When we do [get outside] how chaotic is it going to be? Are we going to see shorter seasons? Are we going to see a higher level of performance? Are we going to see lack of performance, injuries, a bunch of things, it will be interesting to see what happens…it literally is like a lockout,” Northrop said.