Incoming weather forces VYSA into “uncomfortable decision” to postpone State Cup finals

By Charles Boehm

Eyeing an oncoming weather system bearing cold, rain and 35-mile-per-hour winds, The Virginia Youth Soccer Association made the difficult call to postpone the State Cup’s “Final Four” weekend tournament on Friday afternoon, less than 24 hours before semifinals were scheduled to kick off at the Hampton Roads Soccer Complex in Virginia Beach, Va.

With all 24 of the weekend’s games scheduled for natural grass fields at HRSC and the nearby Princess Anne Athletic Complex, organizers decided that the storm’s likely effects on the fields and resulting risks to players’ safety trumped the scheduling nightmare that has now ensued for the event and its participants, the majority of whom were preparing to drive south from the Richmond and Northern Virginia areas on Friday evening.

“It’s very hard, because it’s a no-win situation,” State Cup director Anne Thompson told Potomac Soccer Wire shortly after the decision was publicized. “Everybody wants to play and everybody is ready, but it’s also kind of difficult to put players out in that situation and expect them to play their best game.

“So we all made the decision in concert: [HRSC administrator] Karen Knott, the State Cup committee, and Denise Edwards, president of VYSA. We all talked it out and decided this would be the best thing.”

Weekend forecasts predict a 90-percent chance of rain for Southeast Virginia, and while only an inch or so of rainfall is currently expected, Thompson believed it would be enough to wreak lasting damage on the playing surface should the event proceed, and even then conditions could degrade enough to cut short the tournament before its completon.

“Even if we went, we wouldn’t get the games in, probably – we couldn’t play all day long, and that’s more disturbing than cancelling it before people get on the road,” she said.

“They’re the best people in the world to work with, and we made the decision together,” she added, speaking of Knott and her HRSC colleagues. “Had I pushed the issue, they might have left it open until their fields were ruined, and then halfway into the day say, ‘sorry, they’re not holding up.’ Or the referees might say to me, ‘Sorry, the fields aren’t holding up. They’re unsafe.’”

Officials also had previous instances of weather-marred State Cup events in mind.

“It has happened to us before in Virginia Beach that we’ve had part of the day and had to cancel the rest of the day while we’re there playing State Cup,” said Thompson. “And that’s a very uncomfortable thing too – people have already driven and they have no game. This way, they haven’t driven there yet.”

HRSC has two artificial-turf fields with lighting, but there would apparently be insufficient time to fit in all of the action on them. Thompson and company plan to reschedule the tourney for next weekend, but face an uphill task to find a suitable location on short notice. She confirmed that HRSC is fully booked for November 5-6 and will not host the event, meaning that the finals could wind up almost anywhere in the state.

“I just had to make a decision, and it was uncomfortable to make,” said Thompson, who said she has yet to hear feedback from coaches of the affected teams. “I’m very sorry. If I could do something about the weather, I’d be a rich woman.”

[ +Find more PSW Virginia State Cup coverage here ]

[ +Click here to visit VYSA’s State Cup home ]