First, check the forecast for any snow predictions.

Next, check messages and emails for COVID-19 issues that require immediate attention to today’s game schedules.

Area athletic directors begin each day having to manage their schools’ sports schedules through a jungle of weather-related and pandemic-related problems.

Combine the postponements and rescheduling issues associated with those factors with an already condensed schedule - thanks to a nearly mmonthlongelay at the start of the season - and one can see how this has been a winter sports season like no other for area athletic directors.

Palmerton AD Kyle Porembo said the challenges he faces are “day-to-day.”

“The two questions I need answered every morning are, ‘Do I have to reschedule the games tonight?’ and ‘Are we healthy?,’ said Porembo.

Last week’s major snowstorm ­- plus a number of smaller snow events before and since - has created extremely tight schedules.

“Our teams didn’t get back in the gym until Thursday (after the major weekend storm),” said Porembo. “So we lost all the events scheduled earlier that week. In addition, some schools were dealing with pandemic issues that forced them to pause their schedules, which created more juggling.”

Although games and activities are set 18 months to two years in advance, this year’s schedule has often been a fill-in-the-blank task due to all the postponements and cancellations.

“We got notice to postpone one game on the morning of the event so coaches, game officials, and personnel all had to be contacted,” said Porembo. “You just have to roll with the punches.”

In addition to scheduling, ADs manage COVID-19 guidelines at athletic events. They supervise fan attendance restrictions, proper mask wearing, social distancing, and evenlivestreaming of games for home viewing.

“Every parent deserves a spot in the bleachers to watch their son or daughter play, but that hasn’t been allowed in our league this season,” said Porembo, “But as unfortunate as that has been for parents, they have been very understanding of the restrictions put on us by the pandemic.”

Peter Sanfilippo, Marian’s first-year AD, begins his work day studying weather radar patterns before he checks phone messages and emails to see if his scheduled events are a go.

“With the snow, you don’t know right away if we’re inside with school or not,” he said. “Virtual learning might go on, but we still have to decide about the afternoon and night’s basketball games.”

Recently, due to a COVID case involving the girls’ basketball team and a quarantine, Sanfilippo had to postpone and then reschedule five of their games.

“All the athletic directors in the league work very well together to find open dates to schedule the makeups,” said Sanfilippo. “But with so many postponements, matching open dates can be a challenge.”

Sanfilippo wears different hats at Marian. He’s a physical education teacher, and the Dean of Students, besides handling his AD duties. He also tends to the needs of each of his four children during the day. At night, he’s a game manager at the school, making sure that fan attendance restrictions of 10% of capacity are followed. At Marian, two parents for each senior and one for each underclassmen are allowed into games, with no visiting team’s fans allowed.

In addition to the scheduling issues, there are also the on the spot, unexpected problems that every AD must solve.

“At a girls’ basketball game, there was a power outage and the overhead lights went out,” Sanfilippo explained. “Once the power returned, we had to delay the game about 15 minutes until the lights powered up fully.”

Panther Valley AD Kristin Black gave this past Tuesday as an example of her workday.

She arrived at 7:30 a.m. while it was snowing. In collaboration with the administration, a decision had to be made to cancel the day’s events.

“Counting games, practices, meetings and workouts, 15 events from K-12 had to be postponed that day,” Black explained. “I called coaches, officials, bus drivers, board members, parents, security, maintenance personnel and game staff to let them know.

“In addition, an issue with the pandemic factored into more cancellations for the week. Of course, all events have to be rescheduled with cooperation of other athletic directors.”

Black said she then spent hours replying to emails from the night before. She also participated in four zoom meetings about eligibility lists and football and softball issues. Black is also on the Schuylkill League track and field committee, and she’s the treasurer for the Pennsylvania Athletic Director Association. Her work “day” on Tuesday ended at 11:30 that night.

“We never know what we are going to face each day,” Black said.

Through the craziness of long days and unexpected, last-minute adjustments that all athletic directors face, it helps to have a sense of humor.

“A few years ago, I had to step in to coach the track team,” said Black. “I can do that, but when a bus doesn’t show up to take the kids to an event, I’m not licensed to drive a bus.”

Asked about the greatest reward she experiences on the job, Black didn’t hesitate.

“I go to all the events because I love to watch our kids perform,” she said. “I bleed black, gold and white for Panther Valley.”

Athletic directors are behind-the-scene managers who ensure that students get the best possible experience playing sports for their schools. To guarantee that the events run smoothly, they must solve problems morning, afternoon and night.

Porembo summed it all up in a few words.

“We just have to hunker down and push through it.”

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SWIM-SATIONAL … Tamaqua had an impressive swim meet on Monday against non-league opponent Salisbury. Not only did the Blue Raiders score victories in both the girls’ meet (108-57) and the boys’ meet (105-29), but they had several multi-event winners in the process. Lexi Buchala (200 IM, 100 butterfly), Nathaniel Kovalchick (200 freestyle, 100 butterfly), Joey Lescavage (200 IM, 500 freestyle) and Ethan Amershek (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle) all posted a pair of first-place finishes in the meet.

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PERFECT SATURDAY … On Saturday afternoon, the foul line was very friendly to several local basketball players. Weatherly’s duo of Ashley James and Emma Kane were both a perfect 6-for-6 at the line against Shenandoah, while Marian’s Ashley Pleban went 8-for-8 against Minersville.

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DOUBLE PINS … On Saturday, Jim Thorpe High School became “Pin City” in a Schuylkill League doubleheader as Tamaqua put on a show against the host Olympians. The Blue Raiders had four individuals - Jacob Schlier (138), Aaron Coccio (145), Reese Szabo (160) and Nate Wickersham (215) - record a pair of falls during their 48-12 and 48-10 victories.

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DANTE’S INFERNO … Marian’s Dante Agosti was on fire from behind the arc this past week. On Thursday in a convincing 73-41 victory over Minersville, Agosti drained nine three-pointers on his way to a 31-point performance. He followed that up with seven three-pointers in the Colts’ very next game against Mahanoy Area. Agosti wasn’t the only Marian player to shine from downtown, however, as the Colts finished with 15 treys in the contest with Minersville as Dewin Concepcion, Chris Chambers and Frankie Valente all added two apiece.

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LONG DISTANCE … Marian wasn’t the only team to dial it up from long distance during the week. The Weatherly boys also had a big performance from behind the arc in a 63-56 win over Minersville. In that game, Scotty Zoscin hit for six three-pointers, Antonio Colecio finished with four threes, and Trevor Lowman added three treys for a team total of 13 treys.

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FOUR TO SCORE … In a win over Panther Valley last Friday, Tamaqua had four players score in double figures. Makenna Kane (17 points), Sophia Boyle (14), Emma Hope (12) and Serena Jones (10) combined to give the Raiders tremendous balance in the game

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AT THE BUZZER … There’s nothing quite like a game-winning buzzer-beater to create excitement at a basketball game. One week after Steven Hood thrilled the Panther Valley faithful with a buzzer-beating shot against North Schuylkill, Owen Buck did the same for Palmerton fans against Jim Thorpe. Buck’s rebound and put-back just before the horn sounded gave the Bombers a 49-47 victory.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY … Dan Beck had to spend part of his birthday coaching the Palmerton girls’ basketball team Saturday night. The Bombers gave Beck the perfect birthday gift as they defeated rival Lehighton, 52-46.