It looks like Summer is arriving in Melbourne this weekend and while many of us would like to be at the beach, or somewhere cooler, like Tasmania, many of us will be sweating it out at Basketball.

The temperatures are not expected to reach the extreme levels that we experienced last year (at least not yet), but some precautions and common sense will still be needed to stop the heat from affecting those participating in games.

WBA has developed a Heat Policy in accordiance with Basketball Victoria reccomendations. This heat policy gives the Referee Supervisor the discretion to introduce Heat Rules when the temperature inside the stadium exceeds 30 degrees. The heat rules provide for extra timeouts each half with the expressed purpose of players having a drink and a rest.

Once the indoor temperature exceeds 35 degrees, these rules must be implemented if they haven't been already.

We are fortunate at the stadium to have a major cooling system which can keep the temperature inside the stadium up to seven degrees cooler than the outside temperature. Our two external venues are also modern facilities built specifically to keep indoor temperatures moderate at all times. All of our venues have access to the indoor temperature via digital themometers and supervisors will be monitering and recording the heat at regular intervals throughout the day.

While as participants we cannot control the weather, there are plentry of things we can control to ensure everyone's health and wellbeing. Attached are two documents: the WBA Heat Policy and reccomendations for coaches, players and spectators to best cope with the heat.