WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) – As the sun went down Tuesday night it was still pretty warm out on the turf for athletes, and more heat is expected throughout the week.
Due to the heat, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC), which is the governing body over high school athletics, has put out a warning tonight to coaches and players.
From the football field to track and cross-country, high school sports we’re not slowing down for the heat as boys and girls soccer practiced under the watchful eye of the trainer.
“We have protocols in place where there a lot of water breaks every 10 minutes, we adjust the practice we make groups of three and we have two playing and one resting, trying to get them plenty of fluids,” said boys soccer coach Zeke Seguro
As the athletes drank and hosed themselves off every 10 minutes, it was just too hot for pads. The football team ran through drills shirtless, and the goalie for the field hockey team did not dress out.
“It’s so hot but today they don’t even want us putting on the pads, the plan for me today as I’m going to stand behind the defense and direct them, but I’m not going in,” said the Hall High School field hockey goalie.
One of the more extreme measures here at Hall High School is that they have a cold water tub. They have ice right next to the tub ready to go and if an athlete overheats, they can put them right into the ice bath, put the ice in and start immediately cooling them off as they get the medical help.
“You have to adjust to it it’s not your normal practice, but you make the most of it we try to get our training in before our first game, but we have to be very cautious as to how we do it,” Coach Seguro said.
North Haven canceled all scrimmages today both home and away, and other teams are looking to move games out of the hottest part of the day.
“It’s a challenge, there’s talk we might move our game on Thursday to a later start time,” Coach Seguro explained.
One of the reasons the turf is so much hotter than natural grass is that if you look closely there are millions of black rubber pellets amongst the turf for cushioning. Those pellets absorb the heat and can increase the temperature by as much as 20°.
