As I was talking to my spousal unit today, she mentioned it is over 102 and the heat index is over 105 and the kids have practice tonight. She seems to think they should not go because it is too hot.

While I am all for toughening up the kiddos, I am starting to agree with her a little bit. Add to that they have tournaments in the next few weeks and a potential to play games in 102 heat.

Do you ever say its too hot when it comes to playing games? IF so, at what temperature? I understand the QT is coming up in a few weeks and the games will be played in over 100 degree heat. Sounds like survival of the fittest and not who is the better team.

"IT's HOT, DAMN HOT, SAW A MAN BURST INTO FLAMES--"Good Morning Vietnam

I was thinking the same thing but then remembered that my son played football 2 years ago and was practicing in this heat in full pads. Suddenly playing soccer in shorts and a t-shirt didn't sound so bad.

Hydration is key, just not at practice but all day and week. I am making sure my son is drinking plenty of water and staying away from sodas. I give him gatorade after practice to replenish but water only before and during practice. My son is 10, weighs about 70lbs and I would say he is drinking at least 100 ounces of water everyday, more on practice days.

Our coaches are also very good about frequent water breaks and they have a pump sprayer they walk around with to cool the kids down.

If they are going to play tournaments in this heat they need to practice in it or there is no way they will make it.

WRG, are you not from Texas? This is a normal part of life down here. I agree with Rusty that it's all in the constant hydrating, but all our boys will be playing in this heat through September or October so might as well get them accustomed to it. Besides, fitness is just as important as skills and no better way to get them fit than to run them in hard conditions.

With all that said, something needs to be done for us poor parents sitting on the sideline!

umm, every day quite frankly. but this IS texas.....

slampg wrote:WRG, are you not from Texas? This is a normal part of life down here. I agree with Rusty that it's all in the constant hydrating, but all our boys will be playing in this heat through September or October so might as well get them accustomed to it. Besides, fitness is just as important as skills and no better way to get them fit than to run them in hard conditions.

With all that said, something needs to be done for us poor parents sitting on the sideline!

Yes, I am from Texas and have lived in this heat for years and for normal activity I can deal with it. My concern is kids going all out in 101 degree temps for hour long games. I agree that hydration is a key and making sure they are adjusted to it helps, but what is the cut off.

Would we let our kids play if it was 104 and a heat index of 110? When does it start to get dangerous?

WRG wrote:

slampg wrote:WRG, are you not from Texas? This is a normal part of life down here. I agree with Rusty that it's all in the constant hydrating, but all our boys will be playing in this heat through September or October so might as well get them accustomed to it. Besides, fitness is just as important as skills and no better way to get them fit than to run them in hard conditions.

With all that said, something needs to be done for us poor parents sitting on the sideline!

Yes, I am from Texas and have lived in this heat for years and for normal activity I can deal with it. My concern is kids going all out in 101 degree temps for hour long games. I agree that hydration is a key and making sure they are adjusted to it helps, but what is the cut off.

Last years king tut was 105 degrees with heat radiating off the turf measured by the groundscrew at 160. I guess that means it's never too hot to play soccer in texas.

slampg wrote:

WRG wrote:

slampg wrote:WRG, are you not from Texas? This is a normal part of life down here. I agree with Rusty that it's all in the constant hydrating, but all our boys will be playing in this heat through September or October so might as well get them accustomed to it. Besides, fitness is just as important as skills and no better way to get them fit than to run them in hard conditions.

With all that said, something needs to be done for us poor parents sitting on the sideline!

Yes, I am from Texas and have lived in this heat for years and for normal activity I can deal with it. My concern is kids going all out in 101 degree temps for hour long games. I agree that hydration is a key and making sure they are adjusted to it helps, but what is the cut off.

Last years king tut was 105 degrees with heat radiating off the turf measured by the groundscrew at 160. I guess that means it's never too hot to play soccer in texas.

That is CRAZY.... But I guess you are right, the answer to may question is it is NEVER too hot to play. Time to tell the spouse to pipe down...

WRG wrote:

slampg wrote:WRG, are you not from Texas? This is a normal part of life down here. I agree with Rusty that it's all in the constant hydrating, but all our boys will be playing in this heat through September or October so might as well get them accustomed to it. Besides, fitness is just as important as skills and no better way to get them fit than to run them in hard conditions.

With all that said, something needs to be done for us poor parents sitting on the sideline!

Yes, I am from Texas and have lived in this heat for years and for normal activity I can deal with it. My concern is kids going all out in 101 degree temps for hour long games. I agree that hydration is a key and making sure they are adjusted to it helps, but what is the cut off.

Would we let our kids play if it was 104 and a heat index of 110? When does it start to get dangerous?

Actually there are 2 keys. First is hydration. Second is acclimation.

http://www.sportsci.org/encyc/heataccl/heataccl.html

So ... our bodies can adapt to the heat over a period of a couple weeks. The bad news is that you have to suffer through the process.

Bottom line is that if Junior is going to be playing in any of the summer tourneys, it's safer to have him practice in the heat than to try to play the tourney without acclimating.

It was so hot at tonight's practice I had to start the car and run the a/c just to keep the sweat from accumulating in my fat rolls while I sat and watched junior run.

I think as parents we need to be prepared to practice heat safety in the event that the coach is pushing the limits. I consider the heat issue to be completely different from a conditioning issue. If the athlete's core temperature gets too high, they will die.

It has nothing to do with toughness. Yes, getting acclimated to the heat will help reduce the stress placed on the heart, but it still will not protect them from an excessive core temperature. Also, some of these kids are drinking sports drinks from the convenience stores that have caffeine in them. This MUST be avoided.

I coached a camp with 8 year olds this summer and every twenty minutes, we took a break in the shade and we also had cool mist bottles hitting their arms and faces. You just have to watch the kids and make sure that they aren't over doing it. In the heat it is better to have more "Smarto" and less "Machismo". My two cents.

http://www.uiltexas.org/health/info/heat-stress-and-athletic-participation

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/conditions/adult/non-traumatic_emergencies/dehydration_and_heat_stroke_85,P00828/

www.ksi.uconn.edu

mrclean wrote:I think as parents we need to be prepared to practice heat safety in the event that the coach is pushing the limits. I consider the heat issue to be completely different from a conditioning issue. If the athlete's core temperature gets too high, they will die.

It has nothing to do with toughness. Yes, getting acclimated to the heat will help reduce the stress placed on the heart, but it still will not protect them from an excessive core temperature. Also, some of these kids are drinking sports drinks from the convenience stores that have caffeine in them. This MUST be avoided.

I coached a camp with 8 year olds this summer and every twenty minutes, we took a break in the shade and we also had cool mist bottles hitting their arms and faces. You just have to watch the kids and make sure that they aren't over doing it. In the heat it is better to have more "Smarto" and less "Machismo". My two cents.

http://www.uiltexas.org/health/info/heat-stress-and-athletic-participation

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/conditions/adult/non-traumatic_emergencies/dehydration_and_heat_stroke_85,P00828/

www.ksi.uconn.edu

Bless you for pointing out the obvious... Our practices were a bit over an hour and not that intense...more about team chemistry than running the BBs into the ground...

My bb has already trained 3x this week. Often this summer, he's also had soccer camp during the day. My dd has 4 training sessions this week.

With plenty of hydration breaks, the kids acclimate. They've been doing this all summer.

Bring at least a gallon of water to each practice and have them start drinking in advance ot practice.

I think the kids that haven't been training and acclimating to the heat may pay the price in upcoming qualifying tournaments.

PG-Boy wrote:My bb has already trained 3x this week. Often this summer, he's also had soccer camp during the day. My dd has 4 training sessions this week.

With plenty of hydration breaks, the kids acclimate. They've been doing this all summer.

Bring at least a gallon of water to each practice and have them start drinking in advance ot practice.

I think the kids that haven't been training and acclimating to the heat may pay the price in upcoming qualifying tournaments.

I agree. Heading into qualifying for the 01's (and general tourneys for everyone else), I am seeing many of the better teams going to three a week practices (not to mention the keepers who also do a day or two of position specific training). Our team does three just to keep up and many are also doing 6 hours a day at soccer camp (2 hours outdoors for heat conditioning and 3v3 play). None of the boys are having heat related issues ... but our coach is asking the kids to hydrate throughout the day every day and does take lots of water breaks. It's the nature of NTX soccer. Those that don't do this type of conditioning and acclimation will suffer the consequences later in the summer.

Best to be safe and smart!

Good topic. My bb got dehydrated last year and we didn't know the symptoms. He as complaining that his legs felt heavy and we just thought he may have been a little out of shape, but it turns out that the body starts to restrict the blood from the out extremities when it dehydrated. The body try's to push more blood into the vital organs. Then he would go through spells that his heart started racing, at this point we took him to the doctor.

We had test done with a cardiologist and confirmed the dehydration. The cardiologist said he see it a lot in young athletes. Parents actually restrict too much salt thinking it is unhealthy, but active youths need it. I thought it was kind of funny when he recommend french frys with extra salt. They are a good source of potassium and the salt helps keep the fluids in the body. Stay away from caffeine and carbonated drinks. Stick with water and sports drinks. I think someone already posted this but the key is how much water they drink prior to practice and games. Players need to be fully hydrated before they enter into this hot environment. If their pee is clear before they leave the house they usually are hydrated to the proper level.