TOLEDO, Ohio — Several area school districts canceled games and practices on Wednesday because of the intense heat and humidity.
But some athletic directors decided to still let the athletes play, but cautiously. The Ohio High School Athletic Association's rule on heat is as follows: if there is a heat index of 104 degrees, all outdoor activities such as games and practices are canceled.
For John Snyder, the athletic director of the Anthony Wayne Local School District Athletic Director, Wednesday's extreme heat was too close for comfort for him.
"It just takes one kid, one coach to go down," he said.
So, it was quiet for a Wednesday night on Anthony Wayne's athletic fields. But defensive tackle Brayden Cole, a sophomore, said that's for a good reason.
"We don't want to die. We don't want to pass out. We just want to make sure that we're healthy and ready for Friday," he said.
He agreed that kids are tough, but they're not too tough for safety. It's smarter to take breaks and be aware of how your body is feeling during extremely hot days.
Snyder said canceling games and practices is not taken lightly, and is not something any athletic director looks forward to doing.
"In consultation with our athletic trainers, who are absolute rockstars, we just felt the smart decision was to not even risk it," Snyder said.
And the OHSAA's rule on the heat index is not to be taken lightly, either.
"The problem is we were watching that head index just go higher and higher and higher and we saw no slow down," he said. "Perrysburg was here, they were getting off the bus, and you have to make that uncomfortable awkward phone call of 'I just don't think this is the right thing to do.'"
Some games were rescheduled and some practices were moved inside. But that wasn't the case everywhere.
A soccer game at Whitmer High School against Northview continued as planned but with safety in mind. Junior varsity soccer players Mandy Funk and Jaylen Muhfer said they understand why some schools put Wednesday's games on ice.
"We had frequent breaks though," Funk said.
Muhfer said they could feel the heat, though.
"We were sweating so bad we had to get doused in water," Muhfer said.
Snyder said Thursday is the day many athletic directors were planning to cancel games and practices because of the heat, and that Wednesday was a surprise to many of them.