KANSAS CITY, Kan. — As dangerous heat takes over the Kansas City area, sports teams across the metro are trying to keep their teams healthy while getting ready for their upcoming seasons.
The KC Gators Youth Sports Organization is a nonprofit organization that hosts various youth sports including basketball, football and cheerleading.
Coach William "Redd" Henderson is in charge of a myriad of tasks, including providing water for the team each practice.
“I bring it in a nice-sized cooler on the back of my truck, and we go get ice so it’s cool, and it’s a large, 10-gallon container, so they can drink as much water as they want,” Henderson said.
Coach Henderson says they take multiple water breaks, have fans and practice indoors when the heat outside is too much.
“This summer has been hot, but I feel like the team and Coach Redd do a really good job with making sure the kids are hydrated. They’re taking breaks every 30 minutes or so,” said Rikayla Watson, mother of a KC Gators player.
The organization currently serves approximately 90-125 youth each year with its participants ranging in age from 4-13.
Health officials say even parents keeping a watchful eye on their children may not always be able to pick up on invisible warning signs of heat exhaustion such as confusion, agitation or irritation.
“Any time that you start to see a decrease in their alertness, if there is not a trained medical professional on-site, then that is when you’re gonna want to seek medical treatment,” said Jessica DeWitt, athletic trainer with Rockhill Orthopedic Specialists at St. Luke’s in Lee’s Summit. “You really have to watch the kids because they’re not gonna come and tell you, ‘I think that I have a heat illness.'"
But neither Redd nor Watson plan for any heat illness on their watch.
“We have a GroupMe, so all the parents and all the coaches are in this GroupMe, so when it’s too hot, they cancel practice,” Watson said.
For more information on the KC Gators, visit kcgators.org. The team is currently looking to fill spots for flag football ages 6U and tackle football ages 7U-12U.
To learn more warning signs of heat exhaustion, visit cdc.gov.
