Heat and Sport
Playing sport in hot weather can lead to illnesses like heat exhaustion and heat stroke. The risks of heat illnesses occurring include:
- Individual factors like age, dehydration, medical conditions or lack of acclimatisation to the local environment.
- Environmental factors like temperature, wind speed and humidity.
- Sport specific factors like the duration and level of intensity, venues and surfaces, clothing required and the time of day the activity takes place.
These risks can be mitigated by:
- Rescheduling activities
- Reducing the duration of training, games or events
- Providing more regular drinks breaks
- Providing free access to water and shade
Sports Medicine Australia (SMA), the peak body for sports medicine in Australia, publishes free guidelines and an accessible online tool, linked below, to help keep people safe during hot weather.
Clubs and associations can do the following to ensure sport is safe during warmer months:
Get prepared
Ensure your club, association or sport has a clear policy or guidelines about how you will manage hot weather. Check if your state, territory or national sporting organisation has resources to support you. In short, your hot weather guidelines should detail:
- The risks of playing sport in hot weather (e.g. participants and volunteers suffering from heat illnesses, which is different from the risks of UV radiation).
- The signs, symptoms and management strategies for heat exhaustion and heat stress.
- How your club, association or sport assesses hot weather risks and implements mitigation strategies. E.g. at what point are strategies like extra drinks breaks, additional shade or extra water introduced? At what point are games, training or events cancelled? How is this communicated?
- Who the relevant contacts are in your club or association regarding decisions about hot weather.
The resources linked below from SMA and Vicsport will help you with this.
Communicate with members
Promote your hot weather guidelines and advice to club members, parents, volunteers and officials. Monitor weather forecasts ahead of games, matches and events. Ensure any planned mitigation strategies, modifications or cancellations are implemented and clearly communicated to all parties ahead of time.
Raise awareness
Let people know what they can do to stay safer in hot weather, e.g.:
- Stay hydrated before, during and after activities.
- Wear lightweight breathable clothing as much as possible.
- Avoid consumption of drinks like coffee or alcohol.
Heat exhaustion can show up in symptoms like headaches, dizziness, nausea and vomiting. Exertional heat stroke symptoms include brain symptoms like confusion, aggressive or irrational behaviour and unsteadiness.
If you ever suspect someone has heat stroke, call 000 immediately.