Making the Call

I discovered a new found respect for Superintendents on Monday, January 31.  As the Athletic Director, I am responsible for making the call on games, especially during inclement weather.  We had a major winter storm moving in and I had two girl's basketball games scheduled away, and the boy's county tournament, also away.

The AD from the school we were sending the girls to called around 2:00pm, and we decided it was best to cancel.  The storm hadn't started, but it was forecast to begin while the girls were there, and it was supposed to be freezing rain.  That wasn't too hard a call to make.  We both agreed it was the thing to do, and it was just a regular season game.  The boy's tourney was a bit harder.

I received a call from the Transportation Director at 2:30, when our school releases at 2:35pm.  He was asking if I was going to cancel the boy's trip to the tourney.  Now there's pressure.  Any decision I made would affect three other schools, not to mention their families and friends.  I didn't have the luxury of time, so I couldn't contact the other Athletic Directors to discuss it.

So I did what I always do in such situations.  I defaulted to what was safe for kids.  I could not, in good conscience, allow them to be away from school and have the storm move in.  School buses are safe, but nothing is safe on ice.  I would rather face angry, frustrated people than dead kids, so I made the call to cancel.

As it turns out, it was the right one, as the storm hit as predicted, and the ride home would have been very difficult.  I am sure people were upset, but I stand by the decision, and would do it again the same way in similar circumstances.

Of course, superintendents have to make that call on a bigger scale, and they have state regulations, laws, and other things to weigh in on the decision.  It's not an easy one to make, and my own little episode gave me a better appreciation of what they go through when making the call.