Weather Cancellation 

Policy Explained

Foreword 

We here at DFL understand the commitment to bringing your player to practice each and every day and it is wholly appreciated. Sometimes mother nature doesn't like to play nice with us and we have to make decisions on getting the kids together. Unless you have been notified, assume the practice/game is still on.

Notification 

If you have not gotten word via the APP (SSU Play), both in scheduling change notifications and direct messaging from your coaches, then expect to see an email come through directly from the DFL website. Any one of the coaches, board members, and even some volunteers have the proper access to throw together an email to inform you and keep you apprised of impending weather.

Game of Chance 

In order to cancel practices/games we sometimes roll the dice and win. Sometimes we roll the dice and crap out. If you attended the summer sessions you could easily armchair quarterback the decisions made in the first two weeks and have thoughts that we chose incorrectly. It happens and we are human.

Factors in Decision Making 

Travel Time: Keeping in mind that some of our players have longer travel times, we make every effort to come to a decision a minimum of one hour before practice. We have a good deal of kids driving from the Nottingham and Barrington area to play for us and it is a burden to collect them from school and rush to the fields only to be turned away at the last minute. 

Town/School Field Use: We use the Dover Recreation and School Administrative Unit’s fields and facilities. As such, we are also beholden to their decisions and they can deny us at a moment's notice for using the fields. We try not to get too upset about last minute bumps so we would ask that you carry forward that understanding just the same. To get ahead of a town’s/school’s last minute decision we will always take into account the field conditions if it has been a steady downpour all day. Sometimes a coach or volunteer will drive over to the field early and assess the ground situation. To be quite honest we don’t have much concern for soaking your kid, it’s kind of fun if we are being real.

Final Thoughts

If the kids are practicing and a thunderstorm is possible we ask that you stay local in the event we have to cancel immediately. It is a no brainer and is also our policy that if a storm is near one designated coach or volunteer on site will monitor weather apps and inform the coaches if a lightning strike has occurred within 7-10 miles. At that point the coaches will either flat out cancel practice or send kids to cars until it passes. Safety is paramount, so we will not hesitate to call a practice with impending lightning. It almost goes without saying, if any observer visually observes a lightning strike then it is a no brainer and practice is immediately shut down. We have an EAP (Emergency Action Plan) which covers these types of weather conditions and coaches are required to read and understand our action plans at the start of the season.

Note: The only tornadoes we will ignore are the Timberlane Tornadoes. It is always our goal to just push right through them.