This fall, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy implemented new CIF heat index rules that affect all fall sports teams. In an effort to protect athletes from oppressive temperatures, the new rules force games or practices to be canceled when the temperature rises above 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
For tennis, both practices and matches have been affected.
“Instead of having after-school practice we had to have morning practice at 6:30 am which was a lot and one of our matches got canceled because it was too hot,” tennis team captain Grace Garrity ‘25 said.
Coaches seem to prefer the change.
“I [like] the morning practice. It gives the girls more free time in the afternoon,” Ms. Isabel Gutierrez, tennis coach, said.
Tennis is not the only team that’s had to change its schedule. So has cross-country.
“I didn’t like having morning practices because it is very tiring to wake up early every morning,” cross-country team member Evie Waldron ‘27 said.
“I don’t mind the morning practices, it just doesn’t correlate with our races,” Mr. Kirk Nishiyama, coach of the cross-country team, said.
Mr. Nishiyama explained that since all cross country races are in the afternoon, the morning practices don’t prepare the runners for the extensive heat that they will have to face during their races.
Most climate scientists agree that temperatures in the Los Angeles areas are going to keep increasing in the coming years. The implication: there are going to be more and more days where the temperature rises above 90 degrees.
What will that mean for the future of fall sports at FSHA? Will all matches, meets and games take place indoors or in the morning? Will fall sports cease to exist? Will this also affect winter and spring sports?
“I’m not too concerned about the weather since it’s not in our control but I can see matches getting moved to the morning if the heat continues,” Coach Gutierrez said.
Sophia Tovar ‘26, a FSHA and club soccer player, fears the worst: “Our league doesn’t give extra water breaks and with limited subs and 90 minute games, that makes it even harder,”
