Death, taxes and weather delays during the NCAA Softball Tournament.
As the month of May wears on, regionals, super regionals and the Women's College World Series are on the docket as the biggest events in the college softball world. However, with the weather transitioning from spring to summer, thunderstorms and rain pop up throughout the country.
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One of the most common types of weather delays in college softball is due to lightning. Last year, in the best-of-three series between Florida State and Oklahoma in the WCWS finals, there was a pre-game lightning delay ahead of Game 1. Following a delay of over an hour, both teams took the field — before only four outs were recorded and another lightning delay took both teams off the field.
The game was scheduled to start at 7 p.m. CT with a lightning delay going into effect 45 minutes before the game. It restarted at 8:10 p.m. before facing another delay. The game finally got fully going without interruption at 10:02 p.m. The ACC and SEC conference tournaments this season also saw weather interrupt games already this season.
Here's what you need to know about weather delays and what they mean during the NCAA softball tournament, leading into the WCWS:
Inclement weather delays for softball
In June 2016, the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sportsreleased a statement about inclement/hazardous weather for athletics departments.
"Inclement weather poses unique challenges to athletics operations, partly because of the seasonal and geographic frequency of such events, and because of the disparate impact on members of the athletics team. Student-athletes, most of whom live on or very close to campus, are impacted differently than coaches, support staff, and athletics administrators, who may live at some distance from campus, and who are, therefore, subject to weather conditions that may be very different than those occurring on campus. They may also have the additional difficulty of a commute.
In recent years, the committee has fielded complaints from athletics support staff who report having to journey to campus during inclement weather to attend practices or other non-competition events, even when the campus has been effectively shut down and classes canceled. These complaints become more pronounced when athletics personnel believe themselves to be exposed to personal risks to attend what are perceived as non-essential activities, and especially for practices and other obligations for sports outside of the traditional season. Consequently, the committee provides member institutions the following guidance for inclement winter weather conditions:"
Athletics department personnel must recognize that decisions affecting the broader institutional community also apply to them. Serious consideration should be given to the appropriateness of requiring student-athletes, coaches, and support staff to come to campus when the campus is otherwise closed and classes canceled. Local traffic authorities should be consulted about the safety of local roadways.
Decisions about continued athletics activity should be centrally made, preferably by the athletics director or his/her designee. Coaches should not make such decisions for their own sports in isolation and independent of athletics administrators. Decisions should be made with the ultimate goal of protecting the well-being and safety of all athletics personnel and student-athletes. A full accounting of the disparate impact of inclement weather on athletics personnel and participating student-athletes should be made as part of the decision-making process.
When a decision is made to open athletic or recreational facilities and to conduct athletics activities, standardized steps should be taken to ensure the safe access to those facilities and those parts of campus in which the activities will take place.
Athletics personnel who determine that their personal safety might be jeopardized by commuting to campus in inclement and/or hazardous weather should be excused from all responsibilities without fear of reprisal or punishment, and reasonable accommodations for their absence should be made.
What is a lightning delay in softball?
According to USA Softball's safety guide, the umpires are responsible for monitoring weather conditions and the call to stop play, remove teams from the field and issue a warning to fans.
If the umpire calls a game suspended due to lightning, it cannot resume until at least 30 minutes after the last lightning and thunder are seen and heard in the surrounding area. Each time lightning and thunder occur, the 30-minute clock resets.
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Why is there a 30-minute delay for lightning?
This isn't an arbitrary rule for baseball and softball, but rather comes from experts, accordingto theNational Weather Service.
"Because electrical charges can linger in clouds after a thunderstorm has seemingly passed, experts agree that people should wait at least 30 minutes after the last thunder before resuming outdoor activities."
How close does lightning need to delay a game?
NCAA rules state that if lightning strikes within six miles of the venue of the event, the game must be suspended. The NCAA uses the "Flash to Bang" method, meaning if lightning is observed, count the seconds until thunder is heard and divide the number of seconds by five to obtain the distance in miles. That means that if thunder is heard 30 seconds after the lightning strike, the storm is six miles away, therefore constituting a delay.
"To resume athletics activities, lightning safety experts recommend waiting 30 minutes after both the last sound of thunder and after the last flash of lightning is at least six miles away, and moving away from the venue. If lightning is seen without hearing thunder, lightning may be out of range and therefore less likely to be a significant threat. At night, be aware that lightning can be visible at a much greater distance than during the day as clouds are being lit from the inside by lightning. This greater distance may mean that the lightning is no longer a significant threat. At night, use both the sound of thunder and seeing the lightning channel itself to decide on when to reset the 30-minute return-to-play clock before resuming outdoor athletics activities."
Such was the case for Game 2 of the Bedlam softball serieson March 4, when Oklahoma-Oklahoma State went into a lightning delay just four pitches into the game. The first pitch was at 12:04 p.m.; the game went into delay at 12:06 p.m. and resumed at 3:30 p.m. In that case, lightning was detected seven miles away, but was still deemed to be a threat to evacuate the fans at Love's Field.
NCAA inclement weather policy
The NCAA has a laid-out contingency plan on its website for what should happen in case of a weather delay, especially for fans who are attending an event live.
"While every situation is different based on time of day and which game, the following are standard procedures when inclement weather disrupts a game or games."
No game will be skipped, meaning each game will continue in the order it is scheduled to play. If weather changes the date, the delayed/rescheduled game will still precede any future games.
Tickets are good for the delayed/rescheduled game only.If the game date is moved due to weather, the ticket for the delayed/rescheduled game must be used.
If a game is delayed, but resumed the same day, fans must present the mobile ticket for the delayed game to re-enter the stadium for the continuation of play.
If a game is started then postponed to a new date/time, mobile tickets will be updated to reflect the new date/time. The updated mobile ticket will be scanned for re-entry into the stadium.
In the event of a total game postponement to the following day, meaning the game did not begin at its scheduled time, mobile tickets will be updated to reflect the new date/time. The updated mobile ticket will be scanned for entry into the stadium.
There are no refunds on tickets as all games will be played.
To resolve any tickets issues, fans should visit the west (third base) ticket resolution box office for assistance.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: What are NCAA Softball Tournament, Women's College World Series policies for weather delays?
