My team is also in this tournament, and I think the tournament officials are doing about all they can at this point. The Patriots Point complex is a nice facility when it's dry, but unfortunately it is in a low-lying area and holds water pretty badly when it's wet. We played on Field 1 at 9:45 this morning; there was standing water on the field. One of my players tried to dribble into the box on a breakaway and hit a deep puddle; the ball literally bogged down and stopped, and she tripped on it and nearly face-planted. (This is a player who does NOT make mistakes while dribbling.) This was happening to lesser effect all over that end of the field.
At some point you have to take into account not just damage to the field, but quality of the game and more importantly, player safety. There were several minor to medium injuries on both sides due to lack of control in the mud and water. I observed the tournament folks last night and this morning out on the fields with squeegees trying to sweep the excess water off the fields, but it was a losing battle as the rain continued; one last monsoon just around noon today pretty much finished off the flooding. Hate to say it, but I think for safety reasons, not playing those fields this afternoon was the right call.
We are waiting for a revised schedule for tomorrow; they are going to try to work in at least two games tomorrow for each team, even if they have to be abbreviated. The situation is unfortunate, but from what I can see, the tournament officials are NOT just saying, "oh, well, it rained, go home."
