With heat particularly in the Veolia Arena, fans and industrial-size portable air conditioners have been brought in to reduce court temperatures for player comfort at the NSW Masters Women's Indoor Hockey Championships being played in Goulburn this weekend.
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On Friday, games in one time slot were halted altogether and two games were called off at half time because of the heat. Some other games were also cut short at the direction of Hockey NSW officials, who were on site.
Instead of playing 20-minute halves, the games were modified to allow a rehydration break after 10 minutes.
On Saturday, even more extreme measures were taken to allow the championships to continue.
Games were cut to 15 minutes a half with a drink break at around seven minutes into the half and additional cooling equipment was acquired with a strict watch being kept on court temperatures. If it got too hot, games would be called off.
There was a break in play from 3-4pm Saturday, and games ran later into the evening.
Other sporting events in Goulburn were called off over the weekend, including junior and senior cricket in all grades and the Goulburn Speedway meeting.