Heat prompts L.A. Unified to cancel outdoor activities for a third day

The Los Angeles Unified School District has canceled all outdoor sporting events for a third consecutive day because of excessive heat, according to Trent Cornelius, the district’s athletic coordinator. Tennis, water polo and golf matches scheduled for Wednesday have been canceled.

Practicing outside is not permitted, Cornelius said.

The lack of practice time worries football coaches preparing for Friday games. Football teams are allowed to practice inside gymnasiums.

Several schools are scheduled to face Southern Section schools on Friday that have been practicing with no interruption. Others will be playing charter schools not required to follow L.A. Unified guidelines.

Birmingham, a charter school, has practiced each day in the evening in preparation for its game on Friday against Chaminade.

Schools located near the ocean where temperatures have been cooler don’t understand why they haven’t been permitted to practice in the evening.

Narbonne is scheduled to play Gardena Serra on Friday, and football Coach Manuel Douglas said his team practiced in hotter weather during the summer but wasn’t allowed to practice Monday night.

Serra Coach Scott Altenberg said he told Douglas, “If it’s any consolation, we’re not very good at practice.”

Canoga Park Coach Ivan Moreno said despite practice interruptions, he definitely wants to play Palisades, a charter school, Friday even though his team has been “put at a marked disadvantage.”

“We need to find a way to overcome it,” is what he told his players.

Practices and outside competitions are expected to resume on Thursday.

Twitter: @LATSondheimer