KANSAS CITY, Kan. — En route to a championship, several Chelsea FC players and coaches complained about the weather, including soaring summer temperatures, as the FIFA Club World Cup wrapped up earlier this month across the U.S.
Kansas City was named one of six host cities deemed “extremely high risk” for heat-stress injuries by FIFPro, the global union for nearly 70,000 professional soccer players, which begged the question how Sporting KC manages to slog through summer after summer.
“Without a doubt, Major League Soccer is unique in professional soccer worldwide in that we're one of the few leagues that do continue play throughout the summer months,” SKC Director of Sporting Performance and Science Joey Harty said. “Most of the other leagues in the world take a break in the summer.”
Harty leads Sporting KC through its pre-training warmup and advises the players and coaches on the best practices for optimum performance, including how to mitigate the stress and fatigue extreme heat and humidity can bring.
“I’ve been in this role for seven years and I’ve been with the organization for 10 years,” he said. “... Some of the biggest issues that we see is, for one, the psychological component. Guys that aren't used to it, guys that are coming over from Europe and haven't experienced playing in heat like this, playing in weather like this, they really start to dip down.”
There can be a real drain on performance because of “cardiac drift,” Harty said.
Put simply, the heart pumps harder when the mercury rises.
“My first year, I remember that was really difficult, related to breathe and everything like that,” Sporting KC midfielder Nemanja Radoja said.
Radoja, who started his professional career in his native Serbia, came to the U.S. after several seasons in Spain and needed time to acclimate to Midwestern summers.
“Adaptations can be seen fairly quickly,” Harty said. “In the literature, you can see anywhere from five to 14 days for various aspects of your ability to adapt and compete in the heat. Primarily, that is your body's ability to regulate its temperature — so that is your ability to decrease your heart rate, your ability to increase your sweat rate, and basically dissipate the heat from your body.”
The 48 teams coming to North America will need to have a plan for managing the heat that may stalk next summer’s FIFA World Cup.
“If you don't take care of yourself and you don't prepare in the right way, it'll (the heat) be a significant impact,” Sporting KC Interim Manager Kerry Zavagnin said. “But I trust that most of the federations and national teams understand what they're getting themselves into, and they'll train and prepare appropriately.”
Harty identified three main tentpoles for mitigating the heat’s impact.
“Ultimately, you always go back to the big rocks,” Harty said, “and the big rocks are — stay hydrated, and that does not mean just during competition. It means to hydrate two days prior to competition. Make sure that you are in a good hydrated state. Make sure you're fueling appropriately. Make sure that you are exposing yourself to the heat in a progressive manner.”
The right carbohydrates make a difference and modifying training to keep the intensity high but the duration shorter is usually a good idea.
Do that and Harty says it’s possible to beat the heat.
KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County. Share your story idea with Tod.
—
