What is the lightning policy for youth sports?

The plan in five lines

1. One named adult watches the weather and has the authority to stop play. Coaches and referees follow that call.
2. Know the shelter before the first pitch: a building with plumbing and wiring, or the cars. Know how long it takes to get there.
3. Monitor at 15 miles, prepare at 12, clear the field at 8. If the walk to shelter is long, move these distances outward.
4. Everyone goes. Players, officials, parents, siblings. Nobody waits it out in a dugout.
5. Resume on evidence: 30 minutes of quiet, or detection showing the storm beyond 8 miles and leaving.

Why dugouts and bleachers fail

Open-sided structures give no protection from a strike, and metal bleachers conduct it. The CISA guide lists both as unsafe, along with pavilions, gazebos, tents and golf carts. A car with the windows up is safe.

The trouble with waiting for thunder

Thunder rarely carries beyond 10 miles and is easy to miss over a busy field, so by the time everyone agrees they heard it, the storm is already inside the shelter distance. Detection removes the argument. Before It Strikes shows the distance to the nearest strike and pushes an alert at each ring, so the decision is made by the data rather than by whoever is most eager to keep playing.

For leagues and facilities

Organizations get a shared board for every field, per-venue ring distances, alerts to every coach and official, and a decision log that records when play stopped and resumed and why. See the organization plan.

Quick answers

When should youth sports stop for lightning?

When lightning is within 8 miles. Preparation begins at 12 miles and monitoring at 15, per NOAA and the CISA sports safety guide.

How long after lightning can kids go back on the field?

After 30 minutes with no thunder or lightning, restarting on every flash, or sooner with real-time detection once lightning is beyond 8 miles and moving away.

Is a dugout safe in lightning?

No. Dugouts, pavilions, tents and metal bleachers are open or conductive structures and are listed as unsafe. Use an enclosed building or a car with the windows up.

Guidance on this page follows the National Weather Service lightning safety toolkit and the Lightning Safety Guide for Sports and Special Events published by CISA and the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security (May 2026). Official NWS warnings always take precedence.