Sunday evening, a Black Hawk helicopter from the Air National Guard spent about an hour and a half hovering above the Barboursville City Park spreading out water on the flooded soccer fields.
BARBOURSVILLE, W.Va. -- Sunday evening, a Black Hawk helicopter from the Air National Guard spent about an hour and a half hovering above the Barboursville City Park spreading out water on the flooded soccer fields.
Many of the fields were unplayable after overnight rains caused organizers to cancel and delay games, and in some instances shuffle their locations.
Len Rogers, president of the West Virginia Soccer Association, said he knew on Sunday morning that the fields would be a problem.
"I told Sen. Robert Plymale, 'We need to get a helicopter out here,'" Rogers recalled. "I asked him, 'How do we do it?'"
The only way was to call Gov. Joe Manchin.
"When you call the governor up at 7:15 in the morning and get him out of bed [to ask for a helicopter] - it's pretty neat," Rogers said.
He added that without the governor's and Sen. Plymale's help, this tournament would not have been possible. CSX railroad tracks go through the park, separating four of the fields. More than $1.5 million was contributed by state and local officials to help build a bridge, connecting the two sets of fields.
BARBOURSVILLE, W.Va. -- Sunday evening, a Black Hawk helicopter from the Air National Guard spent about an hour and a half hovering above the Barboursville City Park spreading out water on the flooded soccer fields.
Many of the fields were unplayable after overnight rains caused organizers to cancel and delay games, and in some instances shuffle their locations.
Len Rogers, president of the West Virginia Soccer Association, said he knew on Sunday morning that the fields would be a problem.
"I told Sen. Robert Plymale, 'We need to get a helicopter out here,'" Rogers recalled. "I asked him, 'How do we do it?'"
The only way was to call Gov. Joe Manchin.
"When you call the governor up at 7:15 in the morning and get him out of bed [to ask for a helicopter] - it's pretty neat," Rogers said.
He added that without the governor's and Sen. Plymale's help, this tournament would not have been possible. CSX railroad tracks go through the park, separating four of the fields. More than $1.5 million was contributed by state and local officials to help build a bridge, connecting the two sets of fields.
Sunday evening, dozens of volunteers and workers watched the Black Hawk's rotors whir around, whipping up water in the penalty box and on the rest of the field. Many of them took pictures and recorded video.
Matt Moran, U.S. Youth Soccer membership services specialist, said he saw this two years ago in Oklahoma City.
"They had a record-straight 19 days of rain and we had already played two days on the field," he said. "They brought in a local camera helicopter and it helped a lot."
Flo Egan, who is on the regional cup committee, spent some time to watch the helicopter in between recording scores.
"My brother is in the Air National Guard in New Jersey and I asked him why he never does this back home," she said.
Games that needed to be played were moved to other fields in Charleston, Ohio and Huntington. Other fields at the Kennedy Center YMCA were OK for play; same with some of the newer fields at the city park.
The schedule for today's games had not been finalized as of Sunday evening. Coaches and parents should check www.region1.com for times and sites. Semifinal games were to start at 8 a.m. today.
Reach Jon Offredo at jonoffr...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5189.
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NICE ! But this opens the door for all people involved in sports,with rain soaked playing fields to call out the National Guard .
In international soccer games, the game would have been canceled and played at a future date ! Simple !