When It Comes to Spring Sports, O.C. Athletic Director Is Flooded with Work

If only it could be 75 degrees and sunny every day.

Unfortunately, this oceanfront town is not San Diego, and the weather can change every day, if not by the hour, especially this time of the year.

Ocean City Athletic Director Christine A. Lentz knows this all too well. Her responsibilities vary as much as the weather in the spring.

When raindrops fall, Lentz, who is also the assistant principal, keeps a close eye on the forecast so she can make a decision to cancel games or practices for all the various Ocean City teams.

“I have a pull-down forecast constantly on my (computer) screen,” Lentz said. “I don’t look like (WPVI-TV/6ABC weatherperson) Cecily Tynan, so I don’t try to predict it. In the spring, actually in the fall, too, the fields can take only so much water. We have a time frame to follow when it starts to rain. Cape-Atlantic League rules say we have to make the call by 1 p.m.”

Her job involves more than just making a decision about whether to play ball or not. Unlike most schools where most of the coaches and facilities are on the high school campus, Ocean City’s athletic fields are dotted throughout the city.

Even in specific sports, some levels play in different places. If varsity baseball is home with the JV team, the freshman squad may be on the road.

"On rainy days, I become an air traffic controller,” Lentz said. “In Ocean City, we have a unique situation. Some fields are managed and cared for by the city, and other fields are managed by district employees. It’s a juggling act finding out which fields are playable. We have so many players involved. Our concern is for the players. That’s what matters.”

She added: “Ocean City is very fortunate. The district groundskeepers and the groundskeepers at the city level do everything in their power to maintain and prepare the fields.”

Once the decision is made to alter a schedule that could have been in place for more than a year, Lentz goes into action.

Less than a week into the season, Lentz had to twice cancel part of the Red Raiders’ schedule. That’s when she starts texting as much as a teenager with a new phone.

Coaches, players, bus drivers, referees, opponents, city employees and district employees all have to be contacted, maybe a few times. All the same people have to be contacted again when the games are rescheduled.

“I’m very fortunate,” Lentz said. "(Ocean City Principal) Dr. (Matt) Jamison is very cognizant of the job of an AD. The safety of the athletes comes first. Things get redistributed down to colleagues. Paperwork may fall by the wayside. But we all make sure the kids have a safe place to play.”