Record-Breaking Rains Wash Out Sports Season For Kids
CARROLLTON (CBSDFW.COM) - Record-breaking rains wreaked havoc on local sports fields this fall, forcing children's sporting events to face cancellation after cancellation.
"Rain, rain, sun, rain, rain, rain, sun," says 7-year-old Brennan Bosita, describing the fall's pattern: pouring rain, which meant a wash of a sports season.
"Sometimes they'll be changed and ready to go. Sometimes they'll be in the car, and then we have to just abort and go home," says Rey Bosita, a father of four and coach. "It's crushing for the kids."
Especially when the sun is shining.
"It's really frustrating for all of us to see sun in the sky, no clouds, and still be told no," says Dr. Bosita.
The daily disappointment stretches from sport to sport across the Metroplex. Some 2nd grader soccer players have only played once this fall. But the cities generally rule on field playability, and Matt Gould, president of the Carrollton Farmers Branch Baseball Association, says safety comes first.
"I couldn't have it on my conscience if a kid broke an ankle or something like that because it was muddy," Gould says.
And, as the reschedules pile up, some seasons will stretch to and possibly even past Thanksgiving.
"Our youth baseball has gone past the World Series, so we don't have Mr. October. We're going to have Mr. November and Mr. December," says Bosita.
Despite the leagues' best efforts, the only winner of this season is Mother Nature.
"Last Friday, we had volunteers out at McInnish raking fields until 11 o'clock at night trying to get them ready for Saturday, and it still wasn't enough," says Gould.
Dallas Classic Baseball has had 310 rainouts this fall. That is 67 percent of its schedule.