Old man winter has overstayed his welcome, making spring sports teams a little crotchety.

Can you blame them?

An unwelcome blizzard pounded Minnesota and the metro area April 13 to 15, dumping in some cities 16 inches of snow. Before it, there were only three days of over 50-degree weather starting in March.

That has left spring sports teams scrambling for indoor practice facilities and game venues. It has forced the South Suburban Conference baseball coaches to redo their schedules, opting for multiple doubleheaders in May.

Tennis teams have been forced indoors. The Prior Lake softball played its first SSC game April 16 in the West St. Paul Regional Sports Complex and its second one is April 23 in the Dundas Dome.

Inside softball is doable, but not ideal. Fly balls can hit the roof.

The Burnsville boys tennis team has played two SSC matches at Lifetime Fitness in Bloomington and two more on indoor courts at Gustavus Adolpus College in St. Peter.

The Burnsville girls lacrosse team opened the season in the Star Dome in Richfield, while the Prior Lake girls open April 21 indoors at the Edina Community Center.

What about golf? There are no 18-hole indoor links facilities. The Prior Lake boys own invite has been rescheduled twice. It's now set for May 7 at the Wilds Golf Club.

"Indoor court time is hard to get," Burnsville boys tennis coach Ryan Haddorff sad. "Our practices have been a combination of conditioning in the weight room, shoveling courts and grabbing evening time at the Apple Valley Arena.

"The kids have had a great attitude, but are chomping at the bit to play outside," Haddorff added.

Before the mid-April blizzard, SSC baseball coaches were already set to redo the schedule, adding doubleheaders. The only indoor facility baseball teams could possibly play in is U.S. Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Vikings. But that might be hard to get.

Burnsville coach Mick Scholl has always been careful with pitchers. But now he will have to be even more careful, especially with a May schedule that could see as many as 18 games in about 25 days.

Two seasons ago, the MSHSL adopted a pitch-count rule for baseball, so playing five games in five days will certainly force teams to use multiple arms and not just four to five.

"It really puts a lot of stress on your staff," Scholl said.

The Section 3AAAA playoffs for Burnsville start May 28. Section 2AAAA, where Prior Lake plays, begins May 29.

Playoff softball starts May 21 for Section 3AAAA and May 22 for Section 2AAAA. Burnsville hasn't played a game yet. It has already rescheduled four games and had a tournament in Mankato get cancelled.

The Blaze does not have any indoor games set for the week of April 23 either, so it could potentially play 15 to 16 games in a three-week span before the postseason. That could mean five to six games a week. That's tough on high school kids, who are in school all day.

Starting April 21, there are seven straight days in the forecast with 50-degree temperatures or warmer, including some 60s. But latest snow has to melt, fields have to soften and then dry. That takes some time.

With turf fields, lacrosse teams can start playing outdoors sooner than later. Golf doesn't have that luxury. It relies on green grass and decent conditions, especially on the putting surfaces.

Prior Lake girls coach Corey Carney said you can only do so much inside, hitting off mats and working on swings.

"One of the biggest issues we have run into is getting practice in, especially short game practice," Carney said.

Burnsville boys coach Larry Opatz said it's not easy keeping players engaged inside a gym or hitting balls in a dome.

"Hitting a lot indoors makes it hard for the kids to stay focused after so long," Opatz said. "We've doing some putting inside as well as going to the Braemar Golf Dome once a week."

There are additional costs to teams going inside to other facilities other than their own gyms, which often comes out of the pocket of the team, athletic departments or has to be fundraised.

Teams also can't play Sunday games, a rule by the MSHSL. Should that be lifted this spring? There will almost certainly be rainy days in May, postponing even more contests.

To follow the SSC schedules for all teams, including cancelations, postponements and rescheduling, go to www.southsuburbanconference.org.