Packing for a Hot Practice
Two cold bottles, a hat, a spare dry shirt, something salty, and shade if the ground has none. Freeze one bottle overnight so there is still cold water at the end of the session, and put fluid in before you leave rather than relying on the ground.
What goes in the bag on a hot day
The list is short and most of it is not food.
| Item | Why | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Two bottles | One cold now, one cold later | Freeze one overnight, fill the other with iced water |
| A hat | Shade that travels | The single most portable piece of shade available |
| A dry shirt | For afterwards | A soaked shirt in air conditioning is miserable |
| Something salty | Sodium from food | Pretzels or crackers, which also survive heat |
| Fruit | Water plus carbohydrate | Orange segments and grapes travel well |
| A towel | Cooling and sitting on | Wet it at the tap for the drive home |
Cold, and keeping it cold
Temperature is the difference between water that gets drunk and water that comes home. This is the single highest-return thing in this list.
One bottle frozen solid overnight will still be cold two hours into a hot afternoon, and it doubles as an ice pack for anything else in the bag.
- Freeze one bottle overnight, three quarters full so it has room to expand.
- Fill the second with iced water just before leaving.
- Keep bottles in the shade at the ground, not on the touchline in full sun.
- An insulated bottle is worth the money on a hot-weather sport.
Shade, clothing, and the rest of the bag
Light-coloured, loose, breathable clothing and shade during breaks do a lot of the work that people try to do with drinks. Cincinnati Children's makes the same point about lightweight clothing and shaded breaks.
If the ground has no shade, bringing your own matters more than any snack in the bag.
Before you leave the house
Half a hot-day plan happens before anyone gets in the car.
How hot is it, honestly?
Warm but ordinary
Genuinely hot
Extreme, or a heat advisory is in place
The signs that end the conversation
There is a point where packing stops being relevant and this becomes a medical situation.
Confusion, vomiting, fainting, a headache that will not settle, hot dry skin, or a child who has stopped sweating in the heat all need immediate medical help. Stop the activity, get them cool, and get medical attention. Do not wait to see whether a drink helps.
Questions about hot-day packing
How much water should I send on a hot day?
More than you think, in two bottles rather than one, and cold. A full bottle coming home tells you the plan did not work.
Should I freeze the whole bottle?
Freeze one three-quarters full so there is room for expansion, and send a second already liquid. A fully frozen single bottle gives nothing to drink for the first half hour.
At what temperature should practice be cancelled?
That is the club's decision using the heat index and its governing body's rules, and it varies by state and sport. Ask the club what threshold they use.
- How to Keep Young Athletes and Active Kids Safe in Hot Weather, American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org, healthychildren.org.
- Heat and Athletes, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cdc.gov.
- Heat-Related Illness and Young Athletes, Johns Hopkins Medicine, hopkinsmedicine.org.