How Watchfire Videoboards Help Athletes Beat the Heat

A Watchfire LED videoboard can be so much more than just an entertainment screen or a scoreboard. It can communicate important health and safety information in a clear, visible way. When paired with your organization’s existing safety policies and procedures, Watchfire’s Ignite Sports software and videoboards can serve as real-time safety tools during hot weather.

Keeping Summertime Fun & Safe
Summer is the perfect time for so many of our favorite sports. Baseball and softball complexes across the country are flooded every weekend with hundreds of athletes and their families. Soccer and lacrosse tournaments, track and field meets, and so much more are all taking place under the hot summer sun. Not to mention all the football, soccer, and marching band camps, competitions, practices, and other events taking place on athletic fields everywhere.  With all that fun, though, come plenty of risks, especially with the heat and dehydration.

To help combat this, Watchfire has introduced new animations to its EasyArt library that encourage athletes to stay healthy and hydrated.

Helping to Beat the Heat
Watchfire’s Ignite Sports software includes a built-in library of animations called EasyArt, with hundreds available for use on Watchfire LED videoboards. Watchfire regularly adds to this library, providing schools and athletic facilities with fresh content each year at no additional cost.

The “Stay Hydrated” EasyArt is a great reminder for athletes, coaches, officials, and even spectators to keep drinking water during the harsh summer heat. This animation is designed to be mixed with other gameday messages and can be shown as often as needed.

“Hydration Break” is an actual call to stop the action and rehydrate. This can even be used during camps, practices, and other non-gameday events. Combine the EasyArt animation with an Ignite Sports timer to ensure the break is the proper length and reinforce good hydration habits.

Staying Weather Aware
Ignite Sports built-in editor lets you add regions to your LED display. Consider adding color-coded warnings (such as frames) to your custom content pieces to indicate the heat index. This helps make the safety level instantly visible to coaches, officials, athletes, and parents. Some examples of color-coded warnings are:

Use the editor to personalize heat-related content, too. Imagine a playlist of hydration reminders, your mascot identifying the signs of heat exhaustion, and a message from the coach or complex manager telling young players exactly what to do if someone is in danger.

When temperatures rise, clear communication becomes more important than ever. With Ignite Sports software and Watchfire’s growing library of EasyArt content, schools and athletic facilities have powerful tools to reinforce hydration and help keep players safe.

Contact Watchfire today to see how your videoboard can support your safety plans.