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Fact Box

Staying safe

Some suggestions from the Ohio High School Athletic Association:

Practice sessions should be revised when conditions warrant. High heat and humidity should alert coaches to health concerns of their athletes. When the temperature/humidity factor (commonly referred to as the heat index) is elevated, revision in practices shall occur. Revisions could include: Shortening practice sessions, holding practices in the morning or evening, altering the amount of equipment worn or reducing the intensity of practice sessions.

Athletes should be educated on hydration techniques. They should drink 17 to 20 ounces of water or sports drink two to three hours before exercise and an additional 17 to 20 ounces 10 to 20 minutes prior to exercise.

During practice, athletes should be allowed unrestricted fluid replacement. A general guide is to drink 7 to 10 ounces of water/sports drink every 15 minutes. Water must be available during practice.

After practices, athletes should drink 20 to 24 ounces of water/sports drink for each pound of weight lost, and the rehydration should occur within two hours of the completion of practice.

Source: The Ohio High School Athletic Association

Cody Wittekind arrived at the Marietta Family YMCA Monday for a run on the one day every two weeks the Marietta High School cross country team has a day off during summer conditioning.

But preparation for the run began as soon as he woke up.

"I drink water all day long, not just right before practice" said Wittekind, a senior. "It takes about a half hour for (the water) to get working on you."

As a runner, Wittekind knows the effects dehydration and heat can have on performance. He's not alone in taking precautions.

Student athletes will be working outdoors quite a bit in the weeks ahead, as cross country, tennis and football practices officially began in Ohio Monday. Soccer follows next week. All those athletes must deal with the heat of summer.

A new study from the National Athletic Trainers Association is asking high schools to cut back two-a-day preseason football practices the way the NCAA forced college teams to do six years ago.

The NCAA adjusted its football practice guidelines in 2003 to mandate five days of single-session workouts to acclimate players to the sweltering summer heat.

At least 29 high school players have died from heat-related illness since 1995, sometimes, the researchers said, because coaches and personnel didn't react quickly enough to the symptoms.

The NATA study recommends five days of single-session practices before two-a-days start. Two-a-day sessions should then alternate with single sessions for the first 14 days of practice, the study's guidelines suggest.

In Ohio, the state high school athletic association's guidelines state that the first five days should be single sessions to get players acclimated to the weather, but it doesn't mention anything about alternating between two-a-day practices and single sessions for the next 14 days, according to a July memo sent to Ohio high schools by the Ohio High School Athletic Association.

Other regulations in Ohio include restricting when practice can begin, what equipment can be worn and when, how much fluid athletes must consume and when and how much weight they can lose during practices before participating in the next practice.

Other states though are adopting more stringent guidelines.

In Tennessee, the state's secondary school athletic association recently passed a new rule that limits outdoor practices when the heat index, which measures air temperature and relative humidity, reaches 95 degrees.

When heat indexes fall between 95 and 99 degrees, coaches must provide mandatory water breaks every 30 minutes. Between 100 and 104 degrees, athletes may change practice uniforms and reduce activity if no air conditioning is available. With a heat index above 104 degrees, all outdoor activity and indoor activity in places without air conditioning must be stopped.

Jim Pifer, football coach at Warren High School, said he wouldn't have a problem with alternating two-a-day sessions with single sessions as long as he was able to coach the same number of sessions he currently does.

Two-a-day football practices began Monday at Warren after camp, with single-session days, started last week, he said. In all, the team will have 15 two-a-days.

"This is my 25th year of coaching," he said. "It's a little cooler in the morning than the afternoon. From about 4 to 7 (p.m.) it's hot. When we go from 11 (a.m.) to 1 (p.m.), it's starting to get warmer, but it's not nearly as bad as the afternoon."

The Warren players chose to do the two-a-day sessions in the morning, Pifer said, because it's often cooler then. Otherwise, the players get as many water breaks as they want and the team's athletic trainer watches for heat fatigue and dehydration.

"(The athletic trainer) keeps a pretty good eye on them," Pifer said.

Chad Ross, Waterford High School football coach, doesn't have that same luxury, like he did when he coached at Division V Crooksville High School in Perry County.

"We had a sports trainer at Crooksville who took care of a lot of stuff," Ross said. "Here at Waterford we don't have that, so you have to do a lot more monitoring of the players. That's the big help with a sports trainer; you can coach and they can monitor the players. It's a big need for the high schools to have a trainer."

Waterford otherwise follows the state's recommendations for acclimation days and recently purchased a water cooler that squirts out water to keep the players cool and hydrated, he said.

Waterford, however, does its two-a-days in the afternoon, which was chosen mostly for its convenience for players and coaches who have day jobs.