Youth Sports: Coach, Your Players Are Hydrated Are You?

This past weekend, my daughter's team competed in an elite regional tournament. The temperature was 94 degrees and very sunny.

This is what we did to keep the athletes cool and hydrated

1.  We packed a cooler with 12 white towels soaked in ice and water. One towel for each girl to put on her head or neck to keep cool.
2. We packed ample amounts of ice water and Gatorade. 
3. We set up a tent on the side lines for the players to sit under.
4. The tournament mandated water breaks at the 15 minute mark of each half.
5. We immediately got out of the sun between games - my daughter and I went to see the Avengers in a cool cinema between games on Sunday.

The kids went 4-1 in the tournament. They lost in the finals 1-0 against the best team in Ohio. The steps we took to keep them cool and hydrated worked and allowed us to compete.

But what about the coaches? Did we stay hydrated? Apparently not.

The Main Point

Coaches, you need to stay as hydrated as your players. If not you can end up like me.

On the way home from the finals on Monday, while driving 65 MPH on the highway, I started to blackout. Luckily, I was able to move off the highway and remain conscious. I stayed as calm as I could as I instructed my daughter on how to use On-Star to call for help if I should pass out. I then instructed her to climbed in the back of the car to get me a cold wet white towel and some water. The water and the cool town made me feel better. Soon, I felt good enough to continue driving, but I did not want to risk it so we pulled off on the very next exit to get some water and food.

I felt good as we left the restaurant. We started to drive home and as soon as I reached cruising speed, I started to feel really dizzy again. I pulled over again. Once I again I took a cool towel and more water. I then started feeling better again, but was not confident that I could drive my daughter home safely. I did feel good enough to drive to a hospital that happened to be on the very next exit. I drove there and checked myself in.

I learned a valuable lesson even though we are not running around, coaches need hydration too.