Most students rejoice when there’s a snow day.
Because they don’t have to go to class.
On the flip side, that also means the roads aren’t safe enough to go to sports practices or games.
I spoke to Bismarck Public School Activities director Dave Zittleman about what goes into rescheduling.
(Jamie Council/ KX Sports)
Empty schools also mean empty gyms.
(Dave Zittleman, BPS Activities Director)
“When there’s a snow day, we kind of cringe. It means more work for our office.”
(Jamie Council/ KX Sports)
It turns out, there’s a lot work that goes into making up for lost time.
(Dave Zittleman, BPS Activities Director)
“You’re talking about ticket takers. You’re talking about desk people. You’re talking about our referees. With that being said, you also have to deal with the other team’s schedule. It’s easy to look at your schedule and want to reschedule for this day, but then you have to look at your opponent’s schedule, so there’s lots of head scratching that goes on when you reschedule games.”
(Jamie Council/ KX Sports)
On the first game day that snow had schools closing their doors, 33 games had to be rescheduled. Canceling isn’t an option when it comes to conference games because those affect seeding later.
(Dave Zittleman, BPS Activities Director)
“They’re very important. We need to make them up. We need to find a way.”
(Jamie Council/ KX Sports)
But doing it without compromising student’s safety.
The weather has caused Bismarck Public Schools and many others to make changes, but the athletic departments are working hard to unfreeze winter activities.
The snow days also caused practices to be canceled, which also caused postponements because the North Dakota High School Athletic Association requires so many practices before a game can be played.
