HI,
Sorry about the cancellation on Saturday and apologies if you'd have preferred that the notification was earlier. Due to Melbourne's unpredictability i need to leave it til the last minute (whilst bearing in mind that some players set out a couple of hours before the session) and then make a guess about what the radar is saying about the next 4 or 5 hours.
I turned up at Camberwell at 11am and sat and watched the weather come through. Watched the heavy bursts of very cold rain come through every 20 minutes and matched this to the radar. As far as the radar was concerned - this weather was going to continue all day. Very similar to what Sundays weather.
Last term on similar days i made the call to run the sessions.. The 1.10 group got drenched one day (although it wasn't cold) and it didn't last all day. On another day i gambled and it paid off until 4.45 but then the last session got absolutely drenched and it was freezing. By the end of this the players were wet and cold (but happy-ish), but the coaches were freezing. If this had have come earlier i don't think the coaches would have survived the rest of the session.
So when i cancel sessions - it is obviously a little bit about the players. If they get soaked it isn't always fun (although to be fair they are moving and not heavily clothed and dry out and warm up quickly once it stops - it is also good for the character....). However, cancelling sessions, like yesterday, is more for the coaches. On a really cold day like yesterday (with freezing rain) one heavy down pour means the coaches get soaked and don't dry out or warm up. If they get got (great poet English) by 2 or 3 of these then by the end of a 5 hour shift they are almost hypothermic. For their well being i need to be considerate, even though i have to waive some income (in fact it costs me money to cancel as the venue etc still needs to be paid for) and the coaches have to waive their income. No body wins unfortunately.
So as i said i apologies for the cancellation. I am sure the players would cope with getting wet but the coaches doing a 5 hour shift without a chance dry out and warm up, might not.
In summer the situation is different when it rains. The warm rain bursts and warmth between showers means coaches don't get cold and quickly dry out and warm up. The summer problem is the heat.
Any way as it turned out from 1.45 onwards the weather was perfect. It didn't rain once in Camberwell. If i had have gone with my initial gut instinct (which was to cancel the 1.10 session but run the others) it would have been perfect. Doh! Doh! Doh! In future i should make a decision, and then do the opposite to my decision.
Obviously a credit will be carried forward. If this can be caught up in the holiday sessions that's great, but if not it will be carried forward unconditionally. (But note i cant offer the option to a double on this session as we could end up with 60 players in a session).
Talking of catch ups. I am thinking about running a weekly Sunday session in term 4 for players who missed sessions in terms 1,2 or 3 and didn't get a chance to catch them up. I will keep you posted on this.
One last thing. I used the afternoon to check all my contacts were in place. Emails phone number etc.I also experimented with adding to the ways i can contact you in an emergency. At the moment it is email first. So always check emails before you set out on dodgy weather days.I also posted on Facebook (although not everyone follows TST on Facebook so not ideal). I then tried to send an SMS but my phone limits the amount of recipients allowed per SMS so that doesn't work well and is time consuming. I also tried to set up Whats-app Groups for each session, but i have since deleted all the groups as this wasn't perfect either (a few parents weren't on whats-app or did not want to join a group). I will look at 'team-app' maybe, but definitely need something quick and easy which everyone will be notified about and read before setting out.
Sorry for the epic explanation. If you read this far i am proud of you.
Darren