Bill Schofield didn’t sound worried, even as snow came pouring out of the northeastern Japan skies in blizzard-like fashion, as is customary most months at Misawa Air Base.
Just when it seemed it was safe for outdoor sports to be played there this weekend, Old Man Winter felt the need to make one last appearance on Thursday morning. But not to worry, both Schofield and the weather forecast said; bright skies and warm temperatures are on the horizon.
“Just a little snowstorm. It’ll melt quickly,” said Schofield, whose Robert D. Edgren boys soccer team hosts Yokota along with their girls counterparts Friday and Saturday. Yokota baseball and softball also join Nile C. Kinnick for a DODEA three-way series over the weekend.
“The fields were also reconditioned … so we’re ready to go.”
It’s just one of two regular-season home slates for the Eagles, whose teams in all sports, including track and field, spent much of March boarding buses for 10-hour rides to and from the Tokyo area, where snow for the most part was hardly a bother.
The weekend forecast for Misawa calls for clear skies, a high of 63 and a low of 36 on Friday, rising to 66 and 50 on Saturday.
Edgren teams generally must practice indoors the first few weeks of what is nominally spring-sports season. Snow tends to linger on the fields near the school until the end of March, sometimes early April. The only Edgren team traveling this weekend is track, to Yokota.
DODEA schools throughout the Pacific return to action after having last week off for the spring break.
At Japan’s southwestern end, Matthew C. Perry and Zama travel to E.J. King for a weekend of softball.
The Tokyo area sees Matthew C. Perry’s boys and girls soccer teams converging on Camp Zama for games against Zama, while King’s boys and girls travel to Yokosuka Naval Base for matches against Nile C. Kinnick.
In Korea, all four DODEA baseball- and softball-playing schools head to Yongsan Garrison’s Lombardo Field FourPlex for a full slate of games. Soccer sees Daegu headed Friday and Seoul American Saturday to Osan. The Falcons host Yongsan International on Friday and Humphreys visits the Guardians on Saturday.
Track and field resumes Saturday with meets at American Village in Chatan, Okinawa; the Daegu Invitational at Camp Humphreys; and at two sites in the Tokyo area, with Kinnick traveling to Oi Pier Ground near Haneda Airport; and Zama and Edgren traveling to Yokota. Guam track has the week off due to the Easter holiday.
Friday’s and Saturday’s games are the final tune-ups for DODEA Japan teams before their district-championship tournaments next Thursday-Saturday, baseball at Edgren, softball and girls soccer at Zama and boys soccer at Perry. Korea’s district soccer finals are scheduled for April 26 and 29.
Twitter: @ornauer_stripes
