We understand and support SOCAL’s responsibility to prioritize the health and safety of its players. Our concern is not with protecting children from dangerous heat, but with making blanket cancellations the default solution whenever significant heat is forecast.

We, the undersigned parents, coaches, and soccer families, believe it is unacceptable for the cancellation of an entire weekend of soccer to become a regular occurrence simply because a forecast calls for very high temperatures the following day. In the Inland Empire, hot weather is a recurring and predictable part of September and even October. We believe the league should have a plan that accounts for this reality rather than treating each hot weekend as an unexpected event.

For future seasons, we ask SOCAL to develop a more flexible and proactive approach that allows games to be played when conditions can reasonably be managed safely.

We ask SOCAL to:

• • Plan ahead for forecasted heat. When significant heat is anticipated several days in advance, make reasonable scheduling adjustments before resorting to blanket cancellations.
  • Prioritize cooler playing times. When possible, keep games scheduled during earlier, cooler portions of the day and move later games to earlier available time slots.
  • Consider local conditions. Southern California is a large and geographically diverse region. Conditions can vary significantly by location, field, shade, and time of day, and should be considered when making decisions.
  • Use reasonable safety measures. Where conditions permit play, utilize additional hydration and cooling breaks, access to water, and other appropriate modifications.
  • Establish clear standards. Families and clubs should understand in advance what conditions will result in modified schedules, postponements, or cancellations.
  • Provide advance notice and transparency. When cancellation is necessary, communicate the criteria and reasoning as early as reasonably possible.

We are also concerned by the statement that there is no guarantee that cancelled games will be rescheduled, particularly because additional weather-related disruptions are anticipated later in the season.

Families pay substantial fees for a club soccer season with the expectation that their children will receive the games included in that season. While we understand that unforeseen circumstances can occasionally require postponements, cancelled games should not simply disappear because the schedule becomes difficult to accommodate.

We believe SOCAL should have a reasonable plan to make up games that are cancelled, even if doing so requires extending the season, scheduling games on weekends that were originally open, or utilizing appropriate midweek opportunities. The responsibility for managing the competition schedule should not ultimately fall on families who have already paid for the season.

We are not asking SOCAL to prioritize soccer over player safety. We are asking SOCAL to distinguish between conditions that genuinely require cancellation and conditions that require the schedule to be adapted, while also ensuring that cancelled games are reasonably made up.

U.S. Soccer’s current extreme-weather resources recognize the importance of having clear frameworks for determining when soccer can be played and how conditions can be managed. We believe SOCAL should adopt that same philosophy.

We respectfully ask SOCAL to make this a long-term policy change. We do not believe that canceling an entire weekend of soccer at the last minute because of a forecasted hot day—and potentially not making those games up—is an acceptable or sustainable approach for Southern California. With advance planning, schedule adjustments, and reasonable safety measures, we believe there are better ways to protect players while preserving the season families have paid for.

We ask SOCAL to review its heat and weather policies before the next extreme-weather event and work with clubs, coaches, referees, and parents to develop a more flexible, transparent, and practical approach.