The recent decision by tournament officials to continue the Australian Open despite extreme heat conditions highlights the lack of attention given to athlete health & safety, specifically in regards to heat stroke and heat illness. In the case of the Australian Open, some simple modifications could have greatly decreased risk.
Sadly, such negligence is not necessarily limited to tennis, Australia, or elite athletes. We continue to see day-long competitive youth tennis tournaments taking place in soaring temperatures around the United States without proper precautions to protect the young players, some of whom play multiple matches in a single day without proper breaks and recovery time. The resulting serious medical issues from the lack of proper policies (if known by the public) would be a dose of shock therapy to the parents of the kids who participate in these tournaments.
In contrast, the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) recently agreed to insert an extra “cooling period” in each half of it’s World Cup soccer matches in Brazil and Qatar when temperatures get dangerously high. Similarly, the National Football League (NFL) has gone to great lengths to protect athletes from heat issues with the 2011 collective bargaining agreement, in which they adapted aggressive heat acclimatization policies. These are likely the two most powerful sport organizations in the world. When they make health & safety oriented decisions a priority, the world takes notice, and our efforts to make positive safety changes in other sports and across all levels becomes a bit easier. While FIFA and the NFL have taken the lead in many areas, they and others should be constantly reflecting on how we can make sport as safe as possible.
DOUGLAS J. CASA
Storrs, Conn., Jan. 21, 2014
The writer is a professor of kinesiology at the University of Connecticut and chief operating officer of its Korey Stringer Institute for the prevention of sudden death in sport.
Korey Stringer Institute 