Maintaining a Safe Playing Environment

Each year more than 400 people in the United States are struck by lightning. Severe weather, including thunderstorms, poses a serious risk for injury, especially for outdoor events.

Recommendations

• Listen to local weather forecasts and warnings. Activities should be delayed if a thunderstorm is approaching before or during a practice or game.
• Familiarize yourself with the flash-to-bang count to determine when to seek shelter. Begin counting when you see a flash of lightning. Stop counting when you hear thunder. Everyone should be inside a safe shelter before you reach a count of 30. Dividing this number by five will determine the distance (in miles) to the lightning flash.
• If activity has been delayed, wait at least 30 minutes following the last sound of thunder or lightning flash before your child resumes activity.
• Choose a safe shelter to use if a thunderstorm happens. Trees, flagpoles and light poles are not safe shelters. The safest shelters have four solid walls and electrical and telephone wiring. If no safe shelter is available, your child should take shelter in a hardtop vehicle.
• Discourage bathing and the use of a land line telephone while inside a safe shelter during a thunderstorm.
• Avoid standing water and open fields. If you are in an open field, avoid being at or in contact with the highest point.
• If you feel your skin tingling, get into the lightning-safe position: Crouch on the ground with your weight on the balls of your feet, your feet together, your head lowered and your ears covered.

Field surface can affect injury risk. Holes in outdoor soccer fields may cause leg injuries. An uneven surface may contribute to improper landing after jumping.

Just like well-fitted equipment and conditioning can prevent injuries, so can inspecting athletic fields. Make sure you and other parents inspect the field, bleachers and restrooms before a season begins and before the start of every practice or game.

Recommendations

All fields

• Make sure the size of the field is appropriate for your child's sport.
• Clear the field and spectator areas of all debris.
• Check the field for any holes, depressions or mounds.
• Sprinkler heads should not stick out of the playing surface.
• Remove any maintenance equipment from the field and sidelines.
• Spectator areas should be 10 to 15 feet from the field.
• Fencing around the field should be in good condition with no sharp edges.
• Establish the location of the nearest medical facility.
• Any field markings should be correct and easily identifiable.
• The color, height and distribution of turfgrass should be consistent.

Baseball/softball

• The infield dirt should not be too hard or too soft. If it is too hard, cracks will be visible. If it is too soft, it will appear mushy and footprints will be visible.
• Running paths and sliding zones should be level with the surrounding area.
• The soil should be loose enough around sliding zones for safe sliding.
• The on-deck area and walkway from the dugout should be free of objects.
• The pitcher's mound should be in good condition, without any holes.
• The framework of the bases should not be loose or damaged.
• The use of safety baseballs may reduce the risk of injury.

Football/soccer

• Ensure that soccer goals are adequately secured to the ground.
• All goals should be supervised to ensure that children are not playing on them.
• Soil should be well drained with no standing water.
• Synthetic turf should not have any rips, tears, buckling or bulging.

Basketball

• Indoor courts should be free of obstacles such as debris or extra equipment.
• There should be adequate distance between the court and bleachers and walls.
• Basket stands and nearby walls should be well padded.
• Outdoor courts should not have any cracks or holes in the surface.
• Outdoor courts should be in a safe, well-lit area.