What are the signs and symptoms of dehydration that coaches should be aware of?
The first sign of dehydration is thirst and general discomfort. Then as dehydration becomes more severe, flushed skin, general fatigue and possibly the onset of muscle cramping can occur. As players continue to dehydrate, they can become dizzy, have a headache, vomit, and/or have chills. Similar to other things, there’s a progressive physical decline as you become more and more dehydrated. What can occur as a result of these symptoms? One impact of dehydration is a rise in core temperature as someone becomes dehydrated. Dehydration leads to a faster rise in body temperature during exercise. As body temperature increases, you begin to increase the risk of heat illness and heat injuries. To help protect against the negative effects of increasing body temperature, fluid is lost in the form of sweat to help maintain a close to normal body temperature. Much of this fluid loss is going to come from the fluid in the blood increasing the stress placed on the cardiovascular system. The heart is
