Air Quality Guidance (AQI)

Decisions regarding weather conditions are the responsibility of the game officials, coaches, tournament directors and club administrators present at the field.

All should be aware of the potential dangers posed by different weather conditions and work together to keep the players and other participants as safe as possible. If the weather conditions warrant, game officials and coaches should discuss before the game starts what the procedures will be to insure the safety of the players.

Tournament directors should monitor weather conditions including the warnings and watches issued by the National Weather Service. In the event of sudden changes, the tournament directors should have a means of sending warnings to the site officials. A weather plan should be provided to the participating teams to allow a clear understanding of shelter locations, evacuation plans and how the weather will affect tournament results. Club administrators should perform similar functions for league play.

As we have seen more fires in our region over recent years, SYSA would like to communicate our Air Quality Advisory and appropriate tools we use to evaluate it and how we determine when games/practices will proceed or be cancelled.

If you are a coach or parent looking to make a decision related to air quality and the safety of playing soccer outdoors, we hope to inform all clubs and families 90mins before the start of practices and games to allow families time to change schedules. However, please note that in some cases the cancellations decisions could be made in under the time specified above as air quality can change rapidly.

Using the average AQI as shown on the CDC approved website AirNow.gov SYSA would like to communicate our Air Quality advisory and tools we use to evaluate it and how we determine when practices will proceed or be cancelled.

If the average AQI for Seattle reaches 150 (or higher) then practices and games will be cancelled for the safety and welfare of our players and coaches. No teams should practice outdoors or participate in games when this threshold level is reached.

Practices

To minimize the need to travel during a city rush hours, etc the call to cancel practices will be made by SYSA and Club Leaders by 3pm on a week day.

Sensitive Groups

Parents and coaches are encouraged to use their own best judgement when deciding what is best for the health of their players. If a player has Asthma or other respiratory such conditions an AQI of 100 and above is deemed unhealthy for those sensitive groups.