I don't know about the rest of you, but my school started two-a-day football yesterday! Since it's been ridiculously hot here in northeast Ohio, I thought I would re-start my blogging with some tips on keeping your kids cool on the cheap!
Water Bottles
Always have water bottles available, whether you have kids bring them or you provide them. Water bottles can be transported easily to various practice sites. It's a good idea to issue at least one carrier (six bottles) to each team, though if you have the funds for more then hand out a few. If bottle carrier sets are a little out of your price range, look into getting individual bottles for each athlete. While this might sound like it is more expensive, the easy solution is to find local businesses to sponsor you. It takes a little extra work but in the end it often means that you'll end up with neat water bottles for very little if any cost!
Water Horses
I don't recommend actually going out and purchasing one of these, simply because you'll end up paying upwards of $2000 for a system that's made more or less of parts you can assemble from your local hardware store for about $200 or less. To make one, you'll need a long saw horse, like one you would see at a large construction site or blocking a road, a length of PVC pipe around the same length as the horse, 5-8 pipe nipples, a power drill, a hose bib that will connect with your PVC pipe, and a bag of long zip ties. I'll post more on how to construct this monster tomorrow, but it's quite easy. Note that these materials are not all deemed consumption safe, however if you're in a pinch it is better than having no water at all.
Sprinklers
Working with peewee football? Set up a sprinkler on the practice field and run through it for one of your drills! It keeps your kids cool and keeps your field looking nice all at the same time.
Ice Towels
Every squeamish water girl's nightmare. Yes, ice towels are gross and rather unsanitary, but we're going for cheap not pleasant here. Take a bucket or an old cooler that leaks and is just disgusting and throw about ten towels in the bottom, then fill it halfway with ice and partway with water. Whatever you do, just please wash the towels every night! An interesting variation to towels I've seen is using shammy cloths, though this is less cost effective.
Ice Bath
This is a last resort with overheated athletes. If you find yourself dealing with a chronic overheater however, it's not a bad idea to have your ice bath up and ready to go.
Keep an eye out for a post on how to build a water horse for your team, and watch me do it too! (Hopefully!)
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