Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
There's a heatwave across the Kanawha Valley and it's impacting local sports.
Some parents received notifications on Tuesday alerting them various sports practices were cancelled because of the unseasonably hot weather. Several football practices were shortened across the area, decisions officials said were made by coaching staff under the guidance of doctors and athletic sports scientists.
Temperatures Charleston would more likely experience in June or July gripped the area Tuesday. Capital and the University of Charleston had their practices cut short because of the hot weather.
Scientist and professor Matt Bradley uses technology to help keep players safe on the field.
"There's state mandates in the state code that we have to monitor all this and they're done at football practices," Bradley said. "They're done at soccer games."
A digital sling psychrometer is used to gauge air temperature, pressure, humidity and sunlight, among other factors the device measures, which Bradley said is part of national requirements at football practices used nationwide that West Virginia also enforces.
While Bradley said there have been sports practice related deaths in West Virginia, historically, he said modern technology, state code and those national rules help keep kids safe on the fields and stadiums of West Virginia.
"I've got a cold plunge set up in my training room and a locker room that has air conditioning," Bradley said. "If I have somebody that the heat's getting to them, I will take them, get them out of the sun and put them in a cold whirlpool."
As modern practices help keep student athletes safe while they sharpen their skills, Capital High School Football Head Coach Turan Rush said getting players out in the heat can help acclimatize them for when they play games in hot weather.
He said he uses six words to help his football team thrive.
"Fast, physical, ferocious, smart, disciplined and composed, and we preach those six words, attack those six words daily. I'm going to give our kids a fuller step," Rush said. "If we can play fast, be physical and be ferocious, be smart, physical and composed during tough times that gives us an edge. We're early. We're young. We have a lot of ninth and 10th graders so we try to build a mentality, a mindset where our kids can come every day and once we build that, we're going to build this program."
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There's a heatwave across the Kanawha Valley and it's impacting local sports.
Some parents received notifications on Tuesday alerting them various sports practices were cancelled because of the unseasonably hot weather. Several football practices were shortened across the area, decisions officials said were made by coaching staff under the guidance of doctors and athletic sports scientists.
Temperatures Charleston would more likely experience in June or July gripped the area Tuesday. Capital and the University of Charleston had their practices cut short because of the hot weather.
Scientist and professor Matt Bradley uses technology to help keep players safe on the field.
"There's state mandates in the state code that we have to monitor all this and they're done at football practices," Bradley said. "They're done at soccer games."
A digital sling psychrometer is used to gauge air temperature, pressure, humidity and sunlight, among other factors the device measures, which Bradley said is part of national requirements at football practices used nationwide that West Virginia also enforces.
While Bradley said there have been sports practice related deaths in West Virginia, historically, he said modern technology, state code and those national rules help keep kids safe on the fields and stadiums of West Virginia.
"I've got a cold plunge set up in my training room and a locker room that has air conditioning," Bradley said. "If I have somebody that the heat's getting to them, I will take them, get them out of the sun and put them in a cold whirlpool."
As modern practices help keep student athletes safe while they sharpen their skills, Capital High School Football Head Coach Turan Rush said getting players out in the heat can help acclimatize them for when they play games in hot weather.
He said he uses six words to help his football team thrive.
"Fast, physical, ferocious, smart, disciplined and composed, and we preach those six words, attack those six words daily. I'm going to give our kids a fuller step," Rush said. "If we can play fast, be physical and be ferocious, be smart, physical and composed during tough times that gives us an edge. We're early. We're young. We have a lot of ninth and 10th graders so we try to build a mentality, a mindset where our kids can come every day and once we build that, we're going to build this program."
_________________________________________
Follow WCHS on social media:
Facebook: facebook.com/eyewitnessnewscharleston
Twitter: twitter.com/wchs8fox11
Instagram: instagram.com/wchs8fox11
For the latest local and national news, visit our website: wchstv.com
Sign up for our newsletter: wchstv.com/sign-up
