Throughout August, September and October, the combination of heat and humidity is so intense in Hong Kong that the risk of heat exhaustion and heatstroke for the children at training is very real. Heatstroke can be life threatening and heat exhaustion can progress quickly into this state.

Children are more vulnerable to heatstroke as they don’t create as much perspiration and they produce more heat than adults when they exercise. Parents need to be vigilant through these hot, humid weeks to ensure the children are safe.

It is important to make sure that children are well hydrated before they start training. That means lots of water before they arrive at training as well as during training. FIZZY DRINKS ARE A “NO NO”!

Short socks during the hot and humid training days do help the children to regulate their temperature. Watch to see your child actually drinks properly when the coaches have the water breaks. If you need to leave training for any reason, please assign an adult to watch over your child.

Pouring water over the head or wetting the backs of their necks with ice-cold cloths (a Stingrays tour speciality) really helps to cool them down

If a child complains of a headache or feels dizzy or nauseous they should be taken into the air-conditioning, if it’s available, and cooled by wetting their skin and fanning them. A child who has vomited should never go back onto the court.