Jim Root doesn’t remember canceling games due to extreme heat during his tenure as director of the Houston Parks and Recreation department.
That changed last week.
With crippling temperatures reaching the high 90s, Root cancelled the final games in the summer t-ball league. He said he wasn’t willing to take the risk of putting 4, 5 and 6 year old kids on the field to play a game under extremely hot conditions.
It was a decision Root said he had considered before but never pulled the trigger.
“I’m sure a couple people thought it wasn’t that hot,” Root said. “We decided to error on the side of caution when we decided to cancel games. If we had one child go down and get too hot, we could have avoided it. I have no regrets.”
Root didn’t cancel games for older players, but he did make adjustments to the schedule. Day-long tournaments the past two Saturdays began at 9 a.m. instead of the normal late-morning or early-afternoon starting time. Teams played at the same time on the two adjacent fields, and there were no warm-ups between games.
HHS baseball coach Brent Hall took precautions with his 14-16 year old team last Thursday as temperatures rose to 105.1 degrees. The Tigers played a single game against Willow Springs instead of the scheduled doubleheader.
Hall split the catching duties between Austin Keeney and Whitley Welch, so that neither became overheated.
“We didn’t think it was a good idea to keep the kids out there that long in the heat,” Hall said.
There isn’t much relief from Mother Nature inside Hiett Gymnasium, where coach Skye Carrasquillo was hosting a week-long middle school volleyball camp. There is no air conditioning inside the facility.
Carrasquillo said when the doors are closed, the gym is cooler than outdoors. She keeps industrial-sized fans blowing from opposite ends of the court and schedules practices and camps for the morning or late afternoons and evenings.
During drills, Carrasquillo said players are required to take water breaks to re-hydrate.
“Whether it’s a little bit or a lot, the kids must take a drink,” she said. “It’s never, ‘Oh, I’m not thirsty now.’ They stop and get a drink, then they can come back.”
Neither Hall nor Carrasquillo had issues with players overheating despite the grueling heat. Carrasquillo said one player felt “uneasy” on the first day of camp, but she thought it might have been her nerves and not the weather.
Regardless, Carrasquillo said any players who feel discomfort are encouraged to get a drink and sit in front of a fan until they cool off.
“They have to sit out and can’t do things until their body is ready,” she said.
To counter the heat for the entire community, Root asked the city for permission to open the pool on Wednesdays for the near future. Swimming will be available to the public from noon until 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday moving forward.