Sweltering and sweating at a sports game can completely ruin the experience. Feeling hot is one thing, but when your body begins to feel dehydrated and shut down, it’s tough to focus on the game and enjoy it! You’ll need the right kind of hot weather clothing in order to avoid the heat.
In this post, we’re going to look at some ways that you can stay cool and comfortable even at those sunny outdoor games. If you’re in a different region, check out our guide to the best tailgating gear for each region of the United States.
What to Wear at a Hot Game
Sometimes, sports games get really really hot. Usually, this is because the sun is shining and the air gets up to 100 degrees. In other situations, something happens to the stadium that turns up the heat, like the time that the Heat and Spurs played in the NBA finals on a court with malfunctioning air conditioning that raised the arena to up to 90 degrees.
The Right Colors
When you go to a sports game, you’re kind of stuck wearing the colors of your team (some of which have surprising origins). But there are still a lot of choices that you can make based on the color schemes that the team offers to you. If you can wear lighter colors in the sun, you can reflect a lot more of the heat than you will with the darker colors. For example, if you can choose between a dark green and a neon green, go for the bolder neon. It will reflect more sunlight than going with your team’s darker color kit. Lots of baseball teams use lighter pants for this reason, it’s a smart way to do clothing when figuring out how to keep baseball players cool in hot weather.
The Right Fit
Step up your men’s gameday attire, and get the right kind of hot weather sports outfit.
A nice fitting t-shirt will be an essential piece of wearable air conditioning.
Keep the sun out of your eyes with a team baseball cap, allowing you to shift the bill to front or back to keep things cool. Whether the sun is streaming down from the front or the sun is coming at your back, you can rep your team and stay in the shade at the same time.
Hydrate and Eat Well
While not quite clothing-related advice, eating well and staying hydrated the day before the game and during the game will be essential to staying cool during warmer weather. Drink a lot of water the day before the game. When your body is well hydrated, it is much better at cooling itself down. Also, make sure to stay hydrated during the game, especially if you’re drinking alcohol. Eating nutritious foods the day before and the day of the game is also important. Filling with vitamins and minerals gives your body a better system for fighting against the heat.
Keep the Sun Off
Use generous amounts of sunscreen in order to prevent burning, especially on parts of your body that don’t get a lot of exposure to the sun. Definitely apply sunscreen to your face, neck, and hands. This will prevent your skin from drying out and burning. By keeping your skin from drying out and burning, the sunscreen effectively helps to keep you cool. Additionally, you should use hats and shirts in order to keep the sun off of your skin. Counterintuitively, wearing a long sleeve might be a better way of staying cool, because the sun stays off of your arms.
Cooling Towel
Amidst all of your great gameday rituals, you may want to bring a cooling towel to keep things nice and comfortable. Remember that fancy cooling towels that you can pay a bunch of money for have, well, somewhat mixed reviews.
DIY Cooling Towel
If you know that a game is going to get hot, bringing a cooling towel can really help. While you might opt for a fancy version that retains cool temperatures, you can also just use a small washcloth from the house. The key to having a great cooling tower during the game will be having extra water. If you have a water bottle that you don’t drink out of, but is instead dedicated to the cooling cloth, you can keep refreshing the cloth with cooler water.
Staying Cool as a Player or Fan
How to Keep Baseball Players Cool in Hot Weather
Baseball umpires know that you need to work hard to stay cool, with all the gear that they are wearing. If you’re a baseball player in the summer heat in Texas, there’s only a few options that you can use to stay cool. The most important thing that you can do is to stay hydrated. While this is true for any sport, it is especially true for baseball players. The uniforms trap heat and players can spend a long time standing out in the field or sitting in the dugout, so water is essential. Because players aren’t doing a ton of running around, this can make them forget to drink water. While football players who are running sprints constantly know that they need to hydrate, it’s important for baseball players to be drinking water even while they aren’t running.
How to Keep Soccer Players and Fans Cool
Athletes have a lot of tricks for staying cool in the hot weather. Soccer players generally have things a little bit easier than the baseball players and football players do. Unlike baseball players who are in pants and sometimes mid-sleeve shirts (with hats on), soccer players wear shorts, loose t-shirts, and no hats. This makes them a lot cooler to start with.
But the average soccer player will cover more distance in a soccer game than a football player or a baseball player will. This means that they will need more advanced hydration techniques to remain cool and composed out on the field. Drinking things that are different than water, like a sports drink, can replenish valuable vitamins and minerals as well as encourage hydration. While we might look down on certain sports drinks for containing sugar, it isn’t actually bad for you if you are running around. After all, the good taste ensures that you are more likely to start drinking the liquid before you need it, which helps you maintain hydration. Additionally, the simple sugars that can be found in sports drinks can contribute to bursts of energy.
How to Keep Football Players and Fans Cool
Football players love their uniforms. Football has a long history of really great and really bad alternate uniforms. But underneath those uniforms are heavy, sweaty pads and even more layers of fabric. The whole football suit is designed to keep players safe, but it also can cause things to overheat. It’s important as a football player to invest in good under-pad fabrics that are lightweight and breathable.
Don’t Sweat It
As you try to beat the heat, keep these tips in mind, because nothing is worse than going to a game and not being able to enjoy your team’s win. Drink water, dress appropriately, and moreover, have fun!
