Rain showers over the last couple of weeks have caused games to be delayed or postponed in the Suffolk area, forcing coaches and athletes to pile more games toward the end of the season.

Many contests have been rescheduled due to inclement weather. This trend has forced teams to schedule multiple games throughout the week, when usually they would have only one or two.

T.W. Johnson, director of boys’ athletics for Nansemond-Suffolk Academy, said his school has been fortunate through the rainy conditions.

“We’ve been pretty lucky where we have not lost a lot of games,” Johnson said. “We’ve had a few games that we had to reschedule, and there were a few days that our field crew had to put in some extra hours to get the field ready, but all in all we have gotten through all the rain fairly well.”

Not all schools have had the same fortune. Kristy Brett, the athletic director for Nansemond River High School, has had a turbulent time dealing with the weather conditions.

“Overall it’s been tough for us,” she said. “A lot of our teams have been backloaded to the back portion of our schedule, creating a situation where we played all of our conference games back to back, and in some cases we played literally back-to-back days,” Brett said.

Deciding when to cancel a game depends on the sport and field conditions.

“If we cancel a tennis match, it’s because the court is obviously too wet and it would not be deemed safe for players to play on them,” Brett said. “If it’s a baseball or softball game, we take into account if the actual infield is too difficult to get into playing order.”

Neither of the directors was sure how many games have been moved this season, but both of them said that sometimes it takes some effort to get games rescheduled.

“It all depends,” said Johnson. “Sometimes it’s easy, and sometimes it’s a little bit difficult. It’s all about finding a day that both schools can play.”

But the games can’t be played without the players, and it can be frustrating for them to be ready to play a game and then have it canceled due to rain.

“The rain has made it tough for the kids, because they have had to play back-to-back games, oftentimes three in a week, and that’s hard.” Brett said.

When asked how the coaches are handling the situation, both directors said their staff remained optimistic.

“Most of my coaches are veteran coaches, and they understand that weather plays a part in spring sports,” Brett said. “They try to stay positive.”

“Our coaches realize that it is a part of playing and coaching the sport,” Johnson said. “They don’t get caught up in it too much. They just control what they can control, and none of us controls the weather.”