We’re just at the outset of the inclement weather season, but it’s already wreaking havoc on prep sports schedules in the Northeast, starting with the state football playoffs in Connecticut.
As reported by the Hartford Courant, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference announced Monday that the state’s complete slate of football tournament quarterfinals, which were scheduled to take place Tuesday night, will instead be played Wednesday. The schedule shift will also impact the state semifinals, which will move from Sunday, Dec. 8 to Monday Dec. 9.
The one day delay gives teams a fifth rest day following their Thanksgiving Day rivalry games, with the semifinals then played on the prescribed four days rest.
The decision to shift the state’s entire slate of games was made in an effort to maintain a sense of equality among the teams, rather than play one clutch of games Tuesday and another Wednesday, thereby giving one team an additional day of rest before the state semifinals, a respite that can be critical when the games are played so close together.
Of course, the games going ahead on Wednesday is dependent on the weather cooperating then. Much further delay and the state semifinals and state championship may be even more delayed themselves.
