Always remember to hydrate players and referees alike...

Completely agree. We had some players struggling at the end of the day Sunday. Glad to see our players recognize their symptoms. It is a tragedy that anyone dies from a preventable issue like this. (Not always preventable for the elderly living without A/C, but always preventable for athletes, coaches, refs and spectators. As spectators we went through 12 20oz Gatorades and 4 12 Oz body armors and our first game was not very hot...just humid. Our 1.5 year old Lab went through 6 20 Oz waters. We couldn't leave her home since we were gone from before 6 am until after 6 pm.

It was a brutal day out there. I am sure next weekend will be just as bad.

"Fall" sports do typically begin in August, or even late July, you're right about that. Since you think that's bananas, when would you propose they start? Keeping in mind that you only have a finite amount of time to get a season in & completed before the next sports season starts.

Look, we're in the South, it's going to be hot for a lot of the year. The hottest part of this summer so far was back in mid-to-late June, when we were in the mid-to-high 90's, even touching 100, for a few weeks. I remember late May tournaments in past years where temps were in the 90's (UFA on the Fowler turf 4 years ago was brutal). So I don't know what your suggestion is other than to turn soccer into an October-to-April sport, maybe? Does that go for all other sports as well?

That's all a lot easier said than done. Ideally sports seasons line up pretty closely with school calendars to maximize player and family availability. For better or worse- and I know there's a loud contingent that thinks school in the South should be like it is up North, starting after Labor Day and ending in mid-June- most schools in the South start in early-to-mid August and end in late May. So lining the sports calendars up with that makes too much sense logistically to change. Like I said, it was hotter in June than it was in July or has been so far in August this year, so if the spring season ran through June- with tryouts to follow, I guess?- you'd be complaining that it was too hot to be playing then.

Also, keep in mind that not everyone who has kids that play soccer wants their lives to revolve around youth soccer. When school is out- again, from late May to early/mid August in the South- people want to take vacations, send their kids to camp, etc. They don't want to be chained to a soccer field because the season hasn't ended and tryouts haven't happened yet. You already hear about some people that miss tryouts now because they happen, especially for the older ages, after school has already let out and vacations have started.

You all can yell until you're hoarse that we should just change the school calendar then, but again, we've been going in the opposite direction with that for the past 30 years or so- it's not happening. Just move back up North if it's that important to you!

Hydration or cooling the body after the onset of heat exhaustion itself is not enough. Players and referees need to acclimate to the heat for a minimum of 1-2 weeks by gradually increasing the duration and work load. The body will acclimatize only to the level of stress put upon it. Just spending time out in the heat will only acclimatize your body to being in the heat, not exercising in it.

All players should have an acclimatize plan prior to attending late-Summer team camps or regular practices. Referees should do the same prior to working early season tournaments.

The “Liquid IV” was really good for my family when practicing and playing soccer & other sports this summer.

My daughter does pretty good with drinking fluids with electrolytes throughout the week. She reffed 5 games back to back at the Nike tournament this weekend.

She had an umbrella chair that ended up getting overtaken by ants. Her cooler was loaded with fruit, other snacks along with 2 bottles of water, one large Body Armor water and a canister of fruit juice. I also brought her an large Body Armor orange mango before her last game.

She drank all of the drinks she had ya'll! She was out there 1230pm to 830pm. Long day cut short by thunderstorms...

PS. She had an ice pack in the cooler too just in case she needed something to cool her down

While I think sports for children, should begin in September, I realize that is an ardent wish that is not practical.  I am just honestly suggesting we get these clubs and parents to protect our kids from a fate that is truly preventable. Much like the whole concussion issue, I am trying to educate and inform.    

Here is the story that clued me in on the dangers of heat stroke, et.al.  www.news4jax.com/health/2018/08/02/her-son-died-from-heat-stroke-she-wants-to-protect-other-child-athletes/

I asked for a cap on games assigned and got that request.  We as referees just need to know when to say no and turn down stuff.  Assignors are indeed going to over-assign if you do not give them limits.    I realized for the heat my cap was still too high in number of games, but I made it through.  Yes the last couple of games each day I wasn't 100%, but I felt like I stayed close enough to the play to see anything and call anything to prevent potential player injury.  Honestly most of my games were not bad at all as far as fouls go.  Very high level of play.  Only bad fouls were accidental in younger 11v11 games (U13/U14).  The older kids behaved for the most part, which is an anomaly to be honest.

I would say for now my rule of thumb is going to be if I take 5 games on a Saturday in this heat especially if they are all 11v11 or higher aged games, then I need to only request 2-3 the next day.  Now fall/spring temps and winter is a different animal.  I can easily do 6 (or possibly more if they are 9v9 or less) a day with no issues.  I would rather it be 40 degrees refereeing then 90+ with 80% humidity.

And artificial turf amplifies the danger.

My son's team was one of the teams playing when the AR collapsed at that game.  Luckily we have a doctor and a nurse as parents on the team, and they both rushed to help, so it wasn't just any parents but ones who are trained to deal with medical emergencies.   The athletic trainer on site also assisted--he did have a big cooler of ice at the beginning of the day but said he had treated a lot of heat issues throughout the day and didn't have much left. The ref said it was his 6th game of the day, and kickoff time was 6:00pm.  He had been there since the 8am game out in the heat, was definitely dehydrated and suffering from the heat.  It was brutal out there.  Good reminders to be aware of the symptoms and to make sure you are hydrated.  One of the parents did hear that the referee was fine once they got him cooled down and hydrated.