When Jill Williams looks back on her athletic career, she realises she always strived to be the best, even when she was injured.
“I feel like I didn’t really pay attention to the cues my body was giving me to rest,” Williams, a two-time Olympic shot put competitor in 2008 and 2012, told USA Today Sports. “When I was younger, I thought I was invincible. I wanted to be the athlete every coach dreamed of. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to listen to my body more.”
Of course, we love players who push themselves like Williams does, but there’s always the risk, especially during the summer, that a coach, parent or player might cross an invisible line.
“I had the unfortunate opportunity to see someone collapse from heat exhaustion and be taken away in an ambulance because they were unresponsive,” Williams said. “It’s a horrifying situation to see someone being taken away who has lost their life due to the heat. I’ve learned to make sure I’m prepared for any situation that may arise while competing.”
Can you beat the heat? The answer is no, but it’s a problem even the best athletes in the world deal with: They freeze up, stumble to the finish line, or worse.
We have seen several college and high school football players die from heat stroke, including Corey Stringer, Jordan McNair and Marion Barber. As parents of athletes, we worry about our kids who play camps and summer sports, whose bodies will take even longer to adjust to the sweltering heat than elite athletes.
With a heatwave sweeping across large swaths of our country, we need to keep a closer eye on our young athletes than ever.
“My warning to anyone who continues to push their children or athletes hard in the heat is that continuing to do so is not providing any real benefit to their fitness or sports readiness, and could be unnecessarily putting their lives at risk,” says Dr. Benedict Ifedi, a family medicine and sports medicine specialist at Memorial Hermann Health System near Houston.
Ifedi says there are almost always warning signs of heat-related injuries like heat exhaustion and heat stroke, so here are some ways to spot them and help your young athletes stay healthy in the heat.
1. To compete in the heat, you first need to get used to it.
Jill’s husband, Dustin Williams, will be the co-head athletic trainer overseeing the care of about 140 American athletes at this summer’s Olympics in Paris.
He got a taste of the challenges that would await him at the finish line of the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in February.
“That’s where they break down,” he said. “We’ve had some serious cases where we really had to be careful.”
The trials were held in Orlando, where the weather was much warmer than where many of the runners train, and some were not accustomed to the heat.
Our bodies take 7-14 days to acclimate to a hot playing environment to cope with increased sweating, increased body heat and salt loss. During that time, we need to gradually increase our exposure to sunlight and the duration and intensity of our training.
Here are some tips to help you stay comfortable during the hot weather:
- Over the summer, while your children are out of school, have them practice during the coolest parts of the day and gradually transition to the hotter parts of the day.
- Take frequent breaks (every 15-20 minutes) and provide water and shade. If playing football, instruct players to remove their helmets. Follow National Athletic Trainers’ Association recommendations and limit practices to one hour or less if temperatures are above 90 degrees.
- If your team doesn’t practice regularly before the event, try biking or walking to a friend’s house every day. This will also benefit your overall health. Fit athletes will acclimate to the heat faster, and these athletes will have an advantage over the competition.
2. Stay hydrated with water and electrolytes. Food before and after the event is also important.
Ifedi says that in addition to acclimatising to the heat, people also need to stay hydrated with water and electrolyte drinks to avoid heatstroke.
It’s super important that your child stays hydrated throughout the event, but the hydration process starts well before the event. Here’s how to prepare:
- Drink 100 ounces of fluids (five 20 ounce water bottles) per day starting several days before and continuing throughout the competition. Maintain a 50/50 balance of fluids and electrolytes. Electrolytes can be found in sports drinks such as Gatorade, Powerade, and Pedialyte. Avoid drinks with too much sugar or caffeine.
“There are two things I tell my college athletes: One, if Gatorade or Powerade tastes good, you need more electrolytes,” says Jill Williams, currently an assistant track and field coach at Utah Valley University. “If it tastes salty, you had enough electrolytes, but if it tastes good, you know you need to drink more. Second, check your urine. Sure, it’s gross, but it’s the easiest way to know if you’re hydrated. If your urine is dark yellow, you need to hydrate. If your urine is clearer, you’re hydrated, but you need to keep drinking.”
Think of this process as building up energy and power for your swing and pitch. That energy also comes from a balanced diet of carbohydrates and protein, which not only give you energy but also help you recover. Think lean meats like grilled or baked chicken, fish, and a variety of vegetables and fruits.
- Eat some healthy carbs before you play and mix in a little protein: think whole-grain toast with nut butter, oatmeal with fruit, low-fat yogurt with berries, whole-grain crackers with cheese, or low-sugar cereal with milk.
- You can add salt to your food before an event to build up electrolytes, but avoid processed and fast foods, sodas and sugary juices. What you eat will have a big impact on how you play.
“I think the mistake that young people sometimes make is this mindset of, ‘Oh, I can eat a cheeseburger, it’s no big deal,'” says Dustin Williams, who also serves as BYU’s head athletic trainer for men’s and women’s cross country and track. “It’s OK to eat it every now and then, but if you’re eating it every day, you’re not going to get the feeling you need to perform.”
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3. Don’t overdo it when warming up, but use heat to your advantage
Warming up with quick movements like jogging or sprinting will give you the confidence to perform at your best in a game, match or tournament.
“But young girls need to remember that the warm-up is just a warm-up to prepare their body,” says Jill Williams. “If you push yourself too hard during the warm-up, you’ll be exhausted come competition time. As the weather warms up, remember some of the best exercises for your body and cut out anything else that may drain your energy.”
“I knew that jogging, carioca, skipping and some specific flexibility training would be all I needed to prepare my body for the hot weather. Get the most out of your money and get in shape in the heat.”
Use the remaining time before the match to find some shade. Other ways to stay cool before and during the event:
- Wear light-colored clothing, a hat, ice-wrapped towels, and a cooling vest to hold ice packs.
During the marathon heats, American Clayton Young put his hat inside a water bottle, which froze it, then he wore the hat on his head while running the race.
4. Know the signs of heat stroke
Before the summer sports season begins, get your child in for their annual physical exam to make sure they’re in good health, and once your child starts playing outside, be sure to watch for some key warning signs of heatstroke.
- Malaise
- headache
- dizzy
- nausea
- Muscle spasms
- Excessive sweating
- Fast heart rate.
Before the sporting event begins, locate a first aid station and any medical professionals present. If your child experiences any of these symptoms, immediately move them to a shady area and find them or call 9-11.
Heat stroke can cause your body temperature to rise to 105 degrees or higher.
“Keep your body cool,” says Dustin Williams, who is competing at the US Olympic Track and Field Trials this week. “Getting out of the direct sunlight can make a surprising difference in how much it benefits your body. Being in the shade can make a 20-30 degree difference in temperature, which helps prevent heatstroke caused by exercise.”
The risks of heatstroke are frighteningly real: The effects of excessive heat were noted on the death certificates of more than 2,300 people who died in the United States last summer, according to an Associated Press analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
Before you take your kids to their next sporting event this summer, know that there are steps you can take to help acclimate them, keep them hydrated, nourished, and even save them.
Steve Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer for USA TODAY since 1999. For 10 years he coached his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams. Today, he and his wife, Colleen, coach high school and middle school sports. His column appears weekly. Past columns are here.
Have a question you’d like Coach Steve to answer in a column? Email us. sborelli@usatoday.com
