By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI

FRANKLIN — Last week the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association committee voted to extend the spring cutoff dates for tournament qualification for all the high school spring sports by one week due the record snowfall this winter. The only exception is track, which was moved back three days from May 25 to May 28.

For baseball and softball the deadline is now May 31 with the seedings coming out on June 1. For boys and girls tennis the cutoff is June 1 with seeding taking place on June 2.

Boys and girls lacrosse has been moved to May 28 with the seeding taking place on May 29. Volleyball is moved to May 25 with the seeding taking place on May 26.

The MIAA also pushed back the deadlines for next year as well.

Tryouts for spring sports started last Monday across the state.

While most schools have the field turf surfaces, lacrosse will not be affected as much as around 10 years ago when only so many schools had that kind of field. Early in the season, schools that have grass surfaces can perhaps switch dates if the opposing schools has the field turf is the teams are playing each other twice.

The biggest issue will be for baseball and softball as nearly every school plays on a grass surface. Not only does the snow have to melt but the field needs time to dry as well.

Some fields, that are mostly in the shade, will take extra time to try and some teams may need to move their home field to another field in their town if there are issues.

Baseball and softball will also have their state title dates moved back from June 13 to June 20.

This was a wise decision by the MIAA as many kids will still be in school until the final week in June to make up for the snow days they have had.

For seniors, who get out early regardless, it will not be much different as teams that advance deep enough, regardless of the sport, always have graduated seniors.

The toughest stretch will be early on in the season as most teams will not have been able to practice outside and have had to practice in the gym sharing it with many other teams.