As I sit down to write this column, it is late on Saturday night with just days remaining in the utterly brutal month of March.
Talking with almost all of the spring sports coaches this past week, it has come to my attention that no one is fond of this weather. It didn’t take those conversations for me to come to that realization, trust me, because I am no fan of the cold.
Just about every conversation started with a comment about the snow still on the ground, the brutal temperatures, the high winds or the gloomy skies that have shrouded Cinnaminson and South Jersey for the past handful of months.
I thought that spring was finally here to stay when it almost hit 70 degrees on Thursday as I stood in the parking lot of the Riverton Country Club interviewing Golf Head Coach Bret Jenkins.
Well, I was wrong. The temperatures quickly plummeted and the rain came back.
Scrimmages for Friday and Saturday were canceled or re-scheduled and practices were moved indoors so as not to make the fields any worse.
I know many of you are thinking; “Get to your point already.”
Well, here it is; the season opener for spring sports at Cinnaminson High School cannot come soon enough. As of this article’s posting, we are just three days from April 1, which is this Wednesday. Not every team will start their season on Wednesday, but both lacrosse programs will get underway with games against Holy Cross.
Tennis opens with a match against Palmyra. Volleyball takes on Collingswood. Golf visits New Egypt.
On April 2, baseball and softball host Northern Burlington. Volleyball plays its second match of the season against Sterling.
The schedule comes to a halt there for the Easter weekend.
Despite the quick break in the schedule, it is still an exciting week in Cinnaminson.
After such a brutally cold winter, the spring season provides renewed hopes for all of the varsity programs. With a fresh slate, an even record, and clean uniforms; hundreds of varsity athletes are ready to lace up their cleats, strap on their pads, pull down their caps, step to the plate, prepare the hurdles, hit the green, setup the net and put on their masks in the hopes of finishing at the top of their sport in June.
Who cannot get excited for the spring sports season to arrive? Not only does it bring the renewed hope of a championship, but it also brings warm sunshine, eventually.
Not much compares to participating in a school sport. The camaraderie of a team, fighting side-by-side to achieve a common goal, is something not everyone gets to experience. That is why the start of a new season is so exciting. Each and every team in the division, county, and state has a chance to win a title.
All of the hard work, commitment, sweat, tears, long practices, early mornings and late nights are about to pay off for the baseball, softball, boy’s tennis, boy’s volleyball, boy’s track and field, girl’s track and field, boy’s lacrosse, girl’s lacrosse and golf programs.
As a parting note; good luck to the athletes of all the programs at all three levels as they embark on a new spring sports season this week.
