Hydration and soccer

Another busy weekend of soccer games..2 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday and it was a very hot weekend to play soccer..especially when there is turf, which can be at least 10 degrees hotter. I saw two girls on one of my daughter's teams have extreme heat exhaustion, both girls could not play the second half of the game and one went home because she could not stop throwing up. We as parents have to make sure our children are well hydrated( because they won't do it themselves) before they step on the pitch. It is not just hydrating the day of games, but hydration needs to start days before. My girls get so sick of me telling them to drink and I start pushing liquids, especially water on Tuesday before a Saturday game. Equally important is that our players eat before a game, not a heavy meal but something light with a protein. Once you get heat exhaustion, you are susceptible to it the rest of your life...trust me I speak from experience. It looks like we have another warm weekend coming up, so make sure to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate and eat!!