Heat and Humidity Dangers
by John Puglisi, NISOA Past - President, NISOA National clinician and NISOA local assessor.
Heat and high humidity are a significant part of the playing conditions at the start of the intercollegiate soccer season. While the NCAA soccer rules do not address heat and humidity specifically, Rule 5.6.1 can be broadly applied by the referee to suspend a match for any reason deemed necessary. Dangerous heat conditions can and probably should be considered in this context.
Referees are encouraged to use judgement in their application of Rule 5.6.1, especially in cases where a brief water break will reduce the risk of endangering player safety. The match should be resumed as soon as possible as conditions allow in this case.
Additional discussion and background on this interpretation is available on the NISOA web site.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 11th, 2013 at 2:28 pm and is filed under Instruction with keyword(s) rules. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
