WASHINGTON — From youth soccer to adult matches, most soccer games in Montgomery County, Maryland, are held at the 24 soccer fields at the Maryland SoccerPlex, in Germantown.
With close to 400 games each weekend, scheduling is a tough task, but Mother Nature has made this season especially difficult for the staff at the facility.
“This has been a terrible season,” said Trish Heffelfinger, executive director of the SoccerPlex.
She said this season has seen 229 games canceled and rescheduled due to weekend rain.
“When we get bad weather and we have to reschedule a game, it’s a painful experience for everyone,” said Heffelfinger.
Nicole Adam, of Olney, says schedule changes are not only disappointing for players such as her son, but for parents who already have packed schedules.
“Being a working mother, the rescheduling is always very difficult, trying to move schedules around,” Adam said.
She added that any canceled games this weekend could adversely affect players, who depend on their time on the field to better their ranking in the league.
As the facility prepares for tournaments that will be held soon after the season’s conclusion, the threat of rain this weekend has Heffelfinger concerned. With the soccer season in Week 7 of 8, any canceled games from this point on will not be able to be made up.
Heffelfinger says rainfall hasn’t affected a season this much since 2003, when close to 10 inches of rain fell. And this year’s cooler temperatures keep the fields soggy for longer periods.
“Right now we are not getting any drying at all,” Heffelfinger said.
Usually, fields are mowed three times a week in preparation for the weekend, but mowers had to be kept off the fields several days this season so they wouldn’t damage the grounds.
This weekend, Heffelfinger said, her staff is keeping a close eye on the forecast, and won’t cancel a game until groundskeepers say they must call off play.
