The first week of September, an extreme heat wave hits Ayala, affecting the teachers, students, and most of all, athletes. The heat results in a push back from their afternoon schedules to a decline in their performance.

Starting on September 4 through September 9, the heat wave reached its peak ranging from 100 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. This heat has been affecting many sports across Ayala as their afternoon practices have been either moved forward or pushed back.

Despite the heat being a major factor in whether sports schedules are pushed back, or even canceled in some extreme cases, it is not the only factor. The WetBulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) takes into account not only the temperature, but also the humidity, wind speed, sun angle and cloud cover (solar radiation).

“For our state, there is a limit to which a sport can be played. You get a different color based on these factors: red, orange, yellow. Red is the worst at a certain point they might say,” Girls Golf Coach Kenny Donovan said.

Though sports weren’t entirely canceled, these sports practices ending later has a tremendous effect on students’ after school activities and responsibilities, as they are getting home much later.

“The heat has pushed our practice times back by a few hours, which has caused us to stay back later when the sun is down,” Antonio Chen (10) said. “Many people, including me, have stayed up till 2-3 in the morning finishing up homework.”

This push back in time and schedule also has an effect on students’ minds and overall physique, as many athletes still have to get up early in the morning for morning practices. This becomes a snowball effect, affecting their performance in the following days after the initial push back in schedule.

The heat not only affects the physical sports schedules and times, but they affect the athletes themselves during their practices and games. As a result of the extreme weather, it wears down athletes’ focus and comfort, which can be detrimental to their performance, especially if they are playing afternoon games.

“It can get hard to focus because you’re just feeling so worn down and your mind can drift to other things where you need to be focused on the next shot,” Donovan said.

Different sports require different skills of focus and the extreme heat can make it difficult for them to pay attention to their main objective when they are constantly trying to fight off the heat and stay healthy at the same time.

Since the heat also affects the air quality, players moving under the heat can feel the effects the sun has on them, their body, and their ability to focus.

“When I play tennis under the blazing sun, my body gets all jittery and I partially lose my attention on the court,” tennis player Lindsay Saupan (12) said. “I’m constantly trying to find a way to push back my body temperature to its norms so I’m sweating and that is discomforting.”

Though the heat has immense detriments to athletes, there are many ways that coaches provide the athletes so their practice and game performance is up to par. Because safety is a key element to consider for the athletes because of this heat, the coaches do everything in their power to make sure they stay safe.

“As long as there’s enough breaks, as long as there’s enough opportunities for water, and enough opportunities to cool down,” Donovan said. “But obviously, safety is always first.”