Weather Policy

The St Louis Park Youth Lacrosse Association Board will decide on practice and home game cancelations and relay that information to parents as soon as practicable. The Board will make an initial call no later than one hour prior to the practice or game as to whether the practice or game will take place as scheduled and send that information out to teams via the Crossbar chat function and, for games, the visiting association. The decision will be based on temperature, air quality, field conditions, and other factors, discussed below.

Parents are free to keep athletes at home should they feel uncomfortable with the Board's decision. No athlete will be penalized for missing a practice due to concerns about weather.

While we will aim to provide notice as soon as possible, weather is unpredictable, and changes can occur rapidly after the Board makes its initial call. Coaches will monitor conditions in real time and will remove athletes from the field due to lightning/thunder, weather alerts, etc. Should conditions rapidly change thru the course of practice, parents will be notified through Crossbar as soon as possible and athletes may take shelter in St Louis Park Middle School as needed. At least one coach or parent volunteer will remain until all athletes are picked up.

Player safety starts with proper hydration before and during the game. If the heat index is 105°F or higher at the field 2–3 hours prior to the game, the game or practice will be canceled and rescheduled.

For extreme heat with a heat index below 105°F, games and practices can still be canceled at the discretion of the Board. If the game or practice proceeds, coaches and parents should ensure players have access to cold water, ice towels, and shade. Athletes and parents should bring extra water as needed.

For game situations in hot conditions, team managers will work with referees and coaches to schedule 1–2 minute running-time water breaks as needed in each quarter.

When in doubt, the Board prioritize the safety of players, fans, coaches, and referees.

The general rule of “if you can hear it, clear it” should be used when clearing a field for lightning. Once there is less than 30 seconds between the sight of lightning and the sound of thunder, all individuals should be cleared from the field and in a safe location. The field should remain cleared until 30 minutes have passed with no such events. The 30 minute clock may be reset as more activity is heard or seen. During the delay, coaches must ensure that all team personnel are in vehicles or permanent structures.

During practice, the coach or team manager may suspend practice. During a game, the officials may suspend the game, the site manager or coaches may mutually suspend the game, and neither party can overrule the other.

The EPA has established national air quality standards for each pollutant to protect our health. The higher the AQI value, the greater the health concern. For example, an AQI value of 50 or less reflects good air quality with little effect on athlete health, while an AQI value over 300 is hazardous and can damage healthy lungs. An AQI value of 100 or less is considered acceptable for usual athlete activities. AQI values above 100 are considered unhealthy, at first for athletes and coaches with respiratory or cardiac conditions, and for everyone as AQI values increase.

The Board will use the chart below when determining whether to cancel a scheduled practice or game or let individual parents and athletes make the decision on whether to participate.

Because our home fields are grass, we may need to cancel a practice or game after a prolonged period of soggy conditions, even if it is not currently raining at the time of the practice or games. Occasionally, the St Louis Park Parks Department will close the fields entirely and we are unable to play at all. More often, they will allow us to play, but warn us that we risk damaging the fields for the rest of the season and they will be unable to repair them. All of our fields are used between April and October for up to four days a week, so the Board will consider the protection of our fields when making the call whether to cancel practice.

For games, the Association will follow the Great Northern Lacrosse League standards below:

The safety of our players, coaches, referees, fans, and staff comes first. In the event of adverse weather or unplayable field conditions, Great Northern Lacrosse League reserves the right to:

- Cancel games partially or entirely

- Reduce game times, eliminate halftime or shorten the time between games

- Finish games before inclement weather arrives

- Reschedule and/or relocate games

- Convert a tournament to a “festival” format without playoffs or championship

Play will be suspended immediately if there is a lightning strike within 6 miles of the facility. Play will not resume until 30 minutes after the last lighting strike within 6 miles of the facility. If a game stoppage occurs in the second half of a game, that game will be considered final, and the score at that time will be recorded as final. If a game stoppage occurs in the first half, when play resumes it will be the start of the second half.

We will make every attempt to play every minute of every game, but our ability to do this depends on field availability and lighting. We will post schedule delays, changes, and cancellations on Tourney Machine and the event web page. Weather conditions can change rapidly, and all teams MUST be prepared to play as soon as the weather clears, and fields are playable or risk forfeiting a game.

Facility management often has the final say on weather and field condition delays and cancellations.