Coaches, parents and players please be mindful that as the monsoon winds down we can still have dangerous storms which include thunder and lightening. I myself have spent numerous days in the rain training or in coaching certification classes so a little rain is nothing. Thunder and lightning are a different story. If you hear thunder a good rule of thumb is to vacate the practice field immediately. This may be a bit extreme but the safety of your players is paramount and Yavapai Soccer League places trust in you to make the right decision and protect those players. Please check your coaches handbook for guidelines on inclement weather. You can always assign a parent if you begin to hear thunder to monitor how far off they estimate associated lightning to be.

Yavapai Soccer does not take lightly the cancelling of practice due to inclement weather it is something that is looked at very carefully. They look at the most current data available to them from the National Weather Service as well as radar and forecasts on the National Weather Service pages. They also consider the condition of the fields and the ability for those fields to recover. If a field is torn up during a practice it doesn’t easily recover in our climate. The Town works very hard to maintain its fields and Yavapai Soccer is a partner in that maintenance when they cancel a practice after a day of heavy rain and saturated field conditions. It is a very difficult decision to make.

John Sterling
AYSA Asst DC 7