Sure, snow-covered playing surfaces across the region haven't done any favors for coaches of spring sports and athletic directors.

Northwestern Lehigh's Jason Zimmerman may have put the whole situation into perspective perfectly, however."Folks just have to be patient," Zimmerman, Northwestern's Director of Athletics & Student Services, said. "There are a variety of tricks that some schools use to help speed up the process, but Mother Nature will work at her own pace. We let her take her course last year instead of plowing off the fields, and we were on our field no later than other schools were."We all have to put things in perspective and understand it could be worse. We could be athletic directors in Boston."While seeing snow on the ground in early March isn't a rarity, 2015 has brought even new challenges than a year ago.Last week, the area experienced a number of different snowstorms, including one on Thursday that blasted the groundand playing fields for that matterwith six-plus more inches of snow.With schools closed for much of last week, teams were left scrambling to hold practices (even indoors) for the tryout process necessary in most sports teams."Last week, our kids got to practice Monday and were off Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday because of the weather," Zimmerman said.Spring practices began last Monday, March 2. But an ice and snowstorm the day before had an effect on some schools starting on Monday. More snow then fell throughout the week that closed schools for a number of days, thus keeping athletes off playing fields."We prepare to practice inside for at least the first week of the season, because lately we have not been able to get outside until later in March anyway," Kyle Spotts, Lehighton Director of Student Services and Facilities Planning, said. "The longer the fields remain unplayable, the more issues it presents, but every school is in the same boat."When teams were finally able to start practicing, including some over this past weekend, most were relocated to the school's gymnasium.For schools that have volleyball, practicing in a gym isn't a change from their normal routine. But practicing indoors certainly has its cons for other spring sports, particularly baseball and softball."As far as time-wise, we are scheduled two hours a day and try to accomplish as much as possible in a limited amount of space," Palmerton baseball head coach Mike Svetik said. "We also make our practices as challenging as possible, as realistic as possible, and gear them as if we were outside, but that only works so much."The beginning of this week saw a pleasant change in temperature, with Monday and Tuesday seeing highs in the 40s. Wednesday figures to be just as nice, if not warmer, which will allow some melting of the snow and an opportunity for teams to get on a normal practice routine."All of the teams at Palmerton have been practicing in the gyms," Andrew Remsing, Director of Athletics and Activities, said. "We use the high school, junior high school and an elementary gym to make sure all the teams get a sufficient amount of practice time. This is something we have done in the past and schedule for every year since field conditions are always questionable at this time of the year."But the snow-covered fields, turfs and tracks still remain. So practicing outside, other than in parking lots that may be available, seems to be unlikely for the foreseeable future."Last year, we only got in one practice on the infield before playing our first game," Svetik said. "This year looks to be the same."A number of schools have already begun cancelling scrimmages. Only time will tell if the season-opening games are to follow suit."We have already moved our first three tennis matches," Remsing said. "It is a bit too early in the season for rescheduling issues, but I foresee it being a problem with the current conditions…I would think most local teams will be lucky to get any baseball or softball games in by April 1."