Anyone who has stepped one foot outside in recent weeks knows of the massive heat wave which has moved into our state and even most of the country.
One doesn’t have to even be involved in any activity to feel it. Simply walk around outside for a few minutes and you’ll find yourself longing to be back indoors with the air conditioning operating at optimum efficiency.
That’s why I don’t envy what high school football players are having to go through right now. Football practice, especially what one goes through in preseason, is grueling enough, even under the best of conditions.
Combine that with the type of heat we’ve had in recent weeks and you begin to understand what an ordeal the players are going through.
Both Winder-Barrow High School and Apalachee High School coaches, trainers and officials have been keeping a close watch on their players while they are on the field. Water breaks are frequent. Seldom do players go more than 15 minutes without a break. Trainers are at each practice and help the coaches monitor the heat index.
Practice sessions last week were held early in the morning at AHS and later in the evening at WBHS. All possible efforts to make sure players remain safe are being taken.
The news of two high school football players in our state dying following summer practice sessions is rightfully scary. I can’t imagine what those players’ teammates are going through not to mention their coaches and family members. Ironically, high school athletes are often in the best shape of the lives and you don’t think something is going to happen to them.
However, our ongoing heat wave has been anything but normal. I can report first-hand, however, that players’ safety here in Barrow County is the number one concern for local coaches and their support staffs.
Not once have I seen a player criticized for needing water or the coaches even making players wait any extended length of time for breaks.
We have fortunately moved past the time of “old school” football practices where players are denied water under the guide of “it helps create toughness.” Many players from previous generations can relate all too well what it used to be like during football practices.
Hours upon hours of work in the summer Georgia sun were common with no waters breaks. It wasn’t so much the players were “tougher” but more accustomed to life without the benefits of air conditioning in homes, cars, schools, businesses, etc. Still, it was not safe to conduct practices in that manner and more bad incidents occurred than most are aware of. Media was not as rapid and up-to-date and far reaching then as it is now. But take my word for it, bad things did happen as a result of those long-ago practices designed “to make players tougher.”
High school trainers have the proper backgrounds today to help give assistance to coaches and school officials. The trainers at WBHS and AHS all do a great job and their roles cannot be underemphasized.
It should also be noted that football players are not the only high school students at risk this time of year. Students involved in softball and cross country also have been training in the oppressive heat as well as members of the high school bands. The safety of these students is also front and center on school officials’ minds.
At some point, this heatwave will break and make practice sessions easier to conduct. Until that time, however, the highest level of care is being given to our local student-athletes.
The passing of time has helped all involved realize you can still be “tough” but also smart when it comes to training high school athletes. While the past is often nice to reminisce about, many times it’s best not to continue doing things as they used to be done.
This is especially true when the lives of student-athletes could very well be on the line.
Chris Bridges is sports editor of the Barrow Journal. You can reach him at cbridges@barrowjournal.com.
