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Trainers call for end of two-a-day practices in first week of August

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KFDM COOP

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Trainers call for end of two-a-day practices in first week of August

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June 18, 2009 - 11:41 AM

posted by: Scott Lawrence

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - High school football teams should eliminate two-a-day practices during the first week of August drills when heat stroke has proven particularly deadly, a leading trainers' group said Thursday in a report issued less than two months before the sweltering rite of passage begins at thousands of schools.

The National Athletic Trainers' Association said its recommendations, which include longer breaks between practice and more time for players to ease into contact drills, are not radical changes and closely mirror policies already in place at the Division I college level.

They also pointed to the death of a 15-year-old Kentucky boy last August after he collapsed on the first day of practice. Prosecutors charged his coach with reckless homicide in an unusual case of a coach being held criminally responsible for a player's death.

"Thing aren't going very well at the high school level. We've had a couple very bad years," said Douglas Casa, director of athletic training education at the University of Connecticut and co-author of the report for the Dallas-based association. "This wasn't done for the convenience of coaches."

The executive director of the Texas High School Coaches Association, D.W. Rutledge, said he declined an invitation to appear at a news conference announcing the proposals. Rutledge, who won four state championships in Texas, said he first wanted to review the guidelines with his membership.

Scaling back on two-a-days amounts to lost preparation time, he said, and that's something that could concern coaches in football-crazed Texas.

Since 1995, at least 39 football players across all levels have died from heat-related causes and most of those cases happened in early August, said Dr. Frederick Mueller, director of the National Center for Catastrophic Injury Research at the University of North Carolina.

At least 42 states have some sort of heat illness-prevention guidelines, said David Csillan, an athletic trainer at Ewing High School in Ewing, N.J., and report co-author. He said the recommendations put forth are geared toward better acclimating high school students across all sports to the heat.

Many of the proposals are stricter versions of rules already in place. In Florida, contact drills are prohibited during the first three days of practice. Under the recommendations by the athletic trainers association, teams shouldn't begin full contact until the sixth day of practice.

In Texas, schools must take a minimum one-hour break between practice during two-a-days. The report calls for a minimum three-hour rest, and would limit the second practice of two-a-days during the first week to only a light walkthrough without helmets or pads.

Rutledge said a three-hour break could actually force players into the heat, since some teams start practice early as 6:30 a.m. to avoid the hottest parts of the day. He also stood by the current guidelines that Texas coaches follow.

"Our coaches take it seriously, and do a good job with it," Rutledge said.

In Kentucky, the death of football player Max Gilpin prompted state lawmakers to enact tougher safety laws for prep players. Kentucky high school coaches must now pass an athlete safety course that is expected to go online later this month.

Gilpin's coach, David Jason Stinson, has pleaded not guilty to reckless homicide and is scheduled for trial in August.

Curbing severe cases of heat illness was a prominent topic at the athletic trainers' convention in San Antonio. Also Thursday, a Georgia-based company unveiled a tiny heat sensor that can be placed inside a football helmet to monitor a player's body temperature.

Jay Buckalew, founder of Hothead Technologies Inc., said the system warns coaches and athletic trainers when an athlete is becoming dangerously overheated. But at about $99 a helmet, the price is likely to be prohibitive to many school districts.

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OrangeFBfan

OrangeFBfan

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Times sure have changed..Played in late 60's early 70's never had a break or drink of water..Don't ever remember of a kid passing out or reading about any that had died...Whats wrong with our kids today??????

However, kids now days have access to loads of alternate sports related weight gainers, whey protein drinks, creatine, fat-burners etc. Such over the counter enhancers speed the heart rate up and blood pressure to boot. We could go without water back in-the-day (not by choice) and still practice hard! Not anymore, way toooo many dangerous items out on the market that can cause a kid heath problems.

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RETIREDFAN1

RETIREDFAN1

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This gets to the heart of what is wrong with America today....we baby our kids instead of tring to make them better....WE will continue 2 a days....WE will provide our kids with plenty of water and gatorade breaks....WE will assess and monitor any problems....these guys need to sit in their air conditioned offices and be seen and not heard....I agree completely with D. W. Rutledge.....

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tvc184

tvc184

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Maybe Coop can weigh in here. Is the second week of August significantly cooler than the first week of August? Does three or four days make that big of a change in Texas weather?

This is nothing but a "foot in the door" kind of suggestion. Once they get their foot in the door by banning two-a-days the first week, how far off are we from banning them the second week and then altogether?

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Guest bleed orange

Guest bleed orange

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I think the kids lay up on there ?ss all day playing video games in the A/C..We stayed outside all day because it was cooler outside than inside an unA/C house..We were all used to it being hot and never complained about it...

I agree with both of your post. Why are we always trying to make it easier on our kids? That is why there is more parents raising their kids, kids. It is a sad state of affair. Kids are not made accountable for their actions in this day and time. This is not all kids.

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RETIREDFAN1

RETIREDFAN1

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When I was in school, we hauled hay 5 days a week in the heat of the day.  It wasn't these nice round bales they have today, either...we picked up the square bales and threw them onto the truck or trailer.......we were GLAD when 2-a-days got started so we could catch a break......kids today sit in the AC and play video games all day....there is the problem in a nutshell......

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Guest bleed orange

Guest bleed orange

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When I was in school, we hauled hay 5 days a week in the heat of the day.  It wasn't these nice round bales they have today, either...we picked up the square bales and threw them onto the truck or trailer.......we were GLAD when 2-a-days got started so we could catch a break......kids today sit in the AC and play video games all day....there is the problem in a nutshell......

Good post, some karma for you. Back when I played we had jobs during the summer. We learned the value of a dollar and the value of hard work. It made us stronger.

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Guest bleed orange

Guest bleed orange

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I love these topics so I can get on my soap box. ;D We never wanted to stay in the house because if we did our parents would find us something to do.

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AJ25

AJ25

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at lumberton, we practiced veryyyy early, and around 5 or so at night. We usually got around 8-9 hours of resting time. Heat related accidents are very preventable. It is up to each individual person to take care of their own body. Each person that I've been around when they had heat related accidents didn't drink any fluids, or didn't drink any fluids that are good for you. (Gatorade & water.)

Coming from a guy that went through August Two-a-days 3 seperate years, Two-a-days are a vital part of preparing for a season, and they are not going anywhere.

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Guest bleed orange

Guest bleed orange

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Doesn't a good off-season program help too?  Builds them up over the course of the offseason...at least at WO-S?  I agree with most of the posts on here.

A karma point for you stang4life. We agree on something. ;D

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w

w

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I don't know all the circumstances surrounding the kids' death in Kentucky.  What I do know is, that a lot of people look for somebody else to blame for something that happened unexpectantly.  It's traumatic, it's sad but it happened.  Could it have been prevented?  I don't know...maybe that coach didn't give them breaks, maybe that coach didn't prepare the kids in the spring....I do know that some of the posts on here are right on, though.  Kids and people are softer today because of a/c and the finer things in life that we have all grown accustomed to.  We stayed outside all day long playing ball or playing in the rain or SOMETHING....we weren't allowed to stay in the house all day when I was growing up.  Kids stayed outside....that was the rule!!!!   We weren't as obese a nation back then, either!  And we acted right (or we got a belt to the bottom!)  LOL

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RaginCajun

RaginCajun

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It IS up to the coaches to make sure the kids aren't overexposed, and most take this responsibility very seriously. Standard practice these days is one very early practice, before it gets hot, and one late in the day once it cools off a bit. Things have changed for sure since I can remember going through 3-a-days, with the middle session being a special teams practice. If the governing bodies are serious about this (not that starting a week later makes sense or any difference) they are going to have to allow the lower classifications to utilize spring ball. As much as anything else, the August heat is why many 4 and 5A coaches choose spring ball over a week of work in August. Not every district can afford a "bubble" to practice in, and even if they could, we saw what happened in Dallas. Some coach and his school district will get sued over that too.

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joebdun

joebdun

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When I was in school, we hauled hay 5 days a week in the heat of the day.  It wasn't these nice round bales they have today, either...we picked up the square bales and threw them onto the truck or trailer.......we were GLAD when 2-a-days got started so we could catch a break......kids today sit in the AC and play video games all day....there is the problem in a nutshell......

Good post, some karma for you. Back when I played we had jobs during the summer. We learned the value of a dollar and the value of hard work. It made us stronger.

Have to second that We all had summer jobs in the ricefields. and ever farmer new what time practice started and ended. We started at 5:30am and end at 9:30  then went to the field  to work and went back at 5:00 that afternoon till dark. And had all the water you wonted , out of a gardenhose. And don't remember ever getting cramps 2 and 3 weeks into the season. Last year I went to a game 3 weeks into the season and watch them help ahalf dozzen players off the field due to cramps. Kids today are better athletes but I don't think they are as Tough as the old guys
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