For New Coaches: Learn the Heat Plan Before Your First Practice

This page is for first-year coaches, coaches new to a program, and the athletic directors and club leaders who bring them on. It covers what to find out before day one. The coaches page covers the routine to run at every hot practice after that.

Ask for the written plan

Ask your athletic director or program director for the written emergency action plan for every place your team will practice and play. Read it before the season starts, not the week of your first heat wave.

• If there isn't one, say so early. The free National Stay Cool Day EAP builder walks a school or club through a finished, printable plan for each venue.
• If there is one, check that it names your practice field, not just the main stadium or gym.
• Keep a copy where you coach, in your bag or on your phone, and know where the posted copy is at each site.

Questions to ask before day one

• Who is the medical lead at practice? Is an athletic trainer there every day, some days, or never?
• Where is the cooling tub at my practice site, who fills it, and where does the ice come from?
• Where is the nearest AED, and who has the key to the room it's in?
• What address and gate do I give 911, and who meets the ambulance?
• What are the program's heat rules? Who decides when practice is changed, shortened or moved?
• Which athletes are new, coming back from time off, or have had a heat illness before?

If nobody can answer one of these, that's the gap to fix before practice starts. Bring it to your athletic director in writing.

Walk your field once

Before the first practice, walk the site with the plan in hand. Find the tub, the ice, the water, the shade, the AED and the ambulance entrance. Time how long it takes to get from the far end of the field to the cooling setup. The preseason venue walkthrough has a full checklist.

Know the first two weeks are the riskiest

Athletes who are new to practicing in the heat need time to get used to it. The first days of the season are when risk is highest, and a new coach who wants to make a strong first impression can push too hard too soon. Follow your program's acclimatization schedule. If your program doesn't have one, National Stay Cool Day has a free acclimatization schedule to start from.

Learn the emergency order cold

Exertional heat stroke is 100% survivable when the athlete is cooled fast, on site. Every coach on staff, new or not, should know the same order:

1. Call 911 and start cooling at the same time. One person calls. Everyone else works on cooling.
2. Get the athlete into cold water. Cold-water immersion with ice agitation is the standard. Cooling should start within 10 minutes.
3. Keep cooling. The goal is about 102°F within 30 minutes. At 104°F the body loses its ability to regulate its own temperature, so it can't cool itself down.
4. Cool first, transport second. Cooling happens before the athlete is moved.
5. Remove anything you can quickly but don't delay cooling because of gear removal.

Practice it with your staff

Run a full drill with your assistants before the hot months: someone goes down, someone calls, someone cools, someone runs to the gate. It's the fastest way to learn whether the plan works at your field. National Stay Cool Day's heat stroke drill guide shows how to run one.

Set the tone on day one

• Tell your team that saying "I don't feel right" will never cost them playing time.
• Put water and rest breaks into the practice plan, and never use running or withheld water as punishment.
• Share the parents page with families at your first meeting so they know what a prepared program has in place.

Where to go next

Use the coaches page for the daily heat routine. Athletic directors bringing on new staff can use the athletic directors page. Build or refresh your plan with the free EAP builder. For questions about the Council, contact us.