Challenging for a playoff spot is difficult enough, but when a team has had no true home games scheduled all season, that fight is nearly impossible to win.

For the Warriors’ softball and the mens’ and the womens’ tennis teams, construction has robbed the athletes of playing in front of a crowd filled with family and friends who are cheering for them to do well.

It has prevented the players the luxury of practicing on their home court or on their home field. Yet despite the disadvantage, each team has managed to keep its playoff hopes alive.

It is a tribute to the tremendous amount of effort, concentration and dedication the players and the coaches have shown during such a difficult season.

In recent memory, only the professional basketball and the professional football franchises of New Orleans had to endure an entire season away from their home field or their home court due to the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

While no natural disaster forced these three teams to play all of their games or matches either on the road or at alternative sites, the fact of the matter is that they were true road warriors, winning key matches in hostile territory.

These three teams have demonstrated great focus in winning no matter where they played.

Everyone who is associated with these teams is a winner in every sense of the word, and they should be admired for showing courage and class in dealing with the situation.

Whatever the destiny may be for these three teams, they deserve to be congratulated for their professionalism and their determination to succeed in the face of adversity.