The National Women's Soccer League faced some tough decision in 2018 due to extreme weather conditions in multiple markets.

Along with expected rainstorms and thunderstorms, the league was forced to moved a semifinal playoff game between the North Carolina Courage and Chicago Red Stars to Portland in September due to Hurricane Florence. The NWSL also had to deal with unhealthy air quality conditions for the first time due to wildfires in the Pacific Northwest throughout August.

NWSL Managing Director Amanda Duffy said that the NWSL already had policies and processes in place to deal with inclement weather, which she said would include hurricanes, but she also said that the NWSL had no precedent for approaching poor air quality conditions.

"For the first time this year, we had to deal with air quality, one where we didn't necessarily have a process on paper in how we handle that and what we're looking for in metrics," said Duffy at a recent press conference. "We were working with our medical staff and U.S. Soccer's medical staff in gathering the information in what we needed to look for and what additional measures we needed to implement to ensure a higher level of safety for the players while we were playing that game."

The league made the decision to move forward with two games in Seattle and one game in Portland during the month of August, despite poor air quality due to wildfires in the surrounding areas. The Air Quality Index, which measures pollutants in the air, listed the air quality during those games as unhealthy.

When the Thorns hosted Sky Blue on Wednesday, Aug. 22, the Air Quality Index was at 151 five hours before the game. State officials consider air quality to be unhealthy when the Air Quality Index is between 151-200. Unlike the NWSL, the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA), which regulates high school athletics in Oregon, required schools to cancel all practices and games or move activities inside on that day.

Duffy said the NWSL made the decision to move forward with the two matches in Seattle and the game in Portland only after consulting the Chief Medical Officer at U.S. Soccer and discussing the situation with contacts at Major League Soccer.

During the three games that were impacted by poor air quality, the NWSL had teams take two hydration breaks per half and made oxygen tanks available behind both benches.

"In any situation, when we're dealing with it for the first time, it better prepares us and educates us for the future," Duffy said. "But we do have, for inclement weather, for hurricanes, for rainstorms, those are areas where we do have processes in place that ultimately are designed to keep the safety of players and fans at the forefront of any decision that we make."

While Duffy did not say whether the NWSL would approach situations with poor air quality any differently in the future, she did say that the league is working to put a policy in place to address poor air quality situations.

"We're actively working with the Chief Medical Officer at U.S. Soccer and other medical individuals on his staff and in association with his work to put a policy together that will help us in the future," Duffy said. "He was a part of our decision at that time. We also consulted with Major League Soccer. We consulted with other major league sports in terms of what policies were in place. We felt like we were taking the appropriate steps and measures to play the games in the safest environments possible."

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg