A&H

Abandoning due to Cold

micky2001

micky2001

Well-Known Member
After my game last night I was wondering if anyone would ever consider cancelling/abandoning a match due to the cold weather. I mean, the pitch was perfect, as it was an all weather, but there was sleet and snow but it wasn't affecting the game, although the temperature was freezing and I kept getting asked how long to go every couple of minutes.

This was u16s game in a league and was the only game on because all the grass parks beside us were cancelled due to be waterlogged.
 
The Referee Store
imho, where children are involved, health and safety of children is priority

perhaps stop play and discuss your concerns with the managers before deciding what action you want to take

law 5 - referee is not held liable for any other loss suffered by any individual, club...........which is due or which may be due to any decision that he may take ...in respect of the normal procedures required to hold, play and control a match. Such decisions may include ....a decision to abandon a match for whatever reason'

On a slightly different tack, I once stopped a game because a player, u13's i think, had gone down injured off the pitch.

after he had been sat there for about a minute or so, holding his leg and his manager had shown no interest in going over to see how he was and the ball had not subsequently gone out of play, i decided that stopping play and asking whether the manager was going to go over to see if he was alright was the only way forward, regardless of what the lotg might say
 
Did it with a younger age group years ago Micky. Didn't have sleet or snow but the temperature was dropping all the time despite the 'sunny' conditions and was never going to improve.

A few parents moaned until I pointed out that while the pitch was okay, the chilled players didn't have the padded coats and clothing they were wearing. The wind-chill factor was the thing I was worried about, +7 was probably nearer freezing with the stiff breeze added on. Players wear poor clothing in cold weather, you often see them shivering and their lower jaws chattering, gives us a bit of a clue I'd hope. Thermals and long sleeved cotton shirt at my age mate!

Ed Stone (FA Regional Manager - or whatever they're called now) did a really good talk on how the core of the human brain works and suffers through de-hydration. As I remember 'cold' it was said, can be just as good at making us 'dopey' as de-hydration does. I hope this helps?
 
You can dehydrate even quicker by being cold, than being warm. Just 'cos you ain't sweating doesn't mean you aren't losing fluids, and trying to keep core temperatures stable burns a lot more 'fuel' than trying to cool down.

In the cold, if you start to shiver (teeth chattering is an indicator of shivers) then hypothermia has already started to set in. Other indicators are wanting to pee more often than usual! Joints stiffen a little and flexibility is reduced, loss of feeling or numbness in the extremities (fingers/toes/ears/nose). This means the body has decided it can sacrifice these non-essential items by reducing blood flow to them, in order to use the blood to warm other essential organs. Hence, the reduction in volume of body fluids results in a need to pee.

So, as with anything surrounding kids, be very watchful in the cold!

ALso, the adage that if you are cold, eat ice cream works as well - the natural reaction to consuming cold stuff is for the body to kick into overdrive to maintain core temperature and you get warmer!
 
Agree entirely with top man in the pariah.

At any age below under 16 it is a matter of child Welfare and nothing else.

You have to ask yourself who benefits from continuing, are all the player's happy?

I'm happy to admit that I've abandoned due to the cold and the effects on the player's.
 
I am ashamed to admit, I put on my ref gloves at half time last match. They were lovely and toastie.
 
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