Living in Southern California, intense heat can negatively affect many fall sports. This season, many games, meets, scrimmages and practices were postponed or cancelled due to excessive heat.
“The longer I’m out in the sun, the faster I am out of energy,” Senior Emily Quan said. “I feel like dying after 30 minutes into a run.”
To escape the heat, many cross country practices are pushed back into the evening from 5-7 p.m. Meets like the Rosemead Invitational were postponed 30 minutes.
The Varsity Girls Tennis team has also struggled to beat the heat and were forced to cancel matches at Pasadena Polytechnic, Schurr, South Hills and Arroyo. The team had to postpone one practice and cancel three.
For football, both TCHS and Twentynine Palms decided to cancel their scrimmage at Twentynine Palms. C.I.F. recommends that if the temperature is above 95 degrees, players should remove helmets and body pads to reduce the heat in their bodies during practice. At 100 degrees, C.I.F. encourages regular ten minute water breaks every 30 to 45 minutes and limiting practices to two hours or under.
Volleyball and boys water polo have not been as drastically affected by the heat since they are indoors and aquatic, though one volleyball game was moved to an away game at Mark Keppel, where there was air conditioning, since the TCHS gym does not have a cooling system.
However, heat will not be the only weather condition these teams will have to endure this season. El Niño, an irregular tropical rain storm, will hit California this fall and winter. This massive rainfall can flood the football field and track, which may force many sports like cross country to alter their practices.
If rainfall becomes too heavy, officials will decide if a game or meet should continue. For every sport, if there is lightning during practice or games, the team must wait 30 minutes before continuing. If the lightning strikes again, all sports must stop.