Football practice and heat: A dangerous combination
Is it safe to hold sports practices in this heat? (AJC file)
UPDATE Wednesday at 11: School districts are responding to the heat concerns. Cobb, Cherokee, Henry and Decatur have ceased all outdoor practices from noon to 6.
UPDATE Wednesday at 3:30: The Georgia High School Association has issued a statement on the death of two Georgia players Tuesday from what is believed to be heat-related illnesses.
Every high school sports program in the state is probably discussing its summer practice routines now that heat stroke is being cited as a possible reason why two Georgia players died yesterday.
While former high school players contend that they used to practice in the sweltering summer heat, experts counter that temperatures today are higher, air quality is worse and sports are more competitive
According to the AJC:
A 16-year-old Fitzgerald High School defensive lineman died Tuesday morning following practice at a facility in northern Florida.
DJ Searcy, a rising junior, was found unresponsive in his cabin at O’Leno State Park in Columbia County, according to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. He was taken to a local hospital but resuscitation efforts failed. According to the National Weather Service, the heat index for Lake City, Fla., reached 109 degrees Tuesday.
Searcy’s death came the same day Locust Grove High School center Forest Jones, 16, died after suffering a heat stroke following practice last week.
After a teen football player died in Florida, the Miami Herald ran a story Monday about athletes’ deaths, quoting from the book “Preventing Sudden Death in Sport and Physical Activity.”
According to the Herald story:
Between 1982 and 2009, there were 756 deaths from all causes among high school and college athletes. The vast majority were high school athletes, many of them football players.The book highlights the deficiencies for keeping athletes safe during practices and competition, and offers extensive instruction on how to improve conditions. For example, only about half of all high schools have athletic trainers on staff, usually because of budgetary constraints, according to Douglas Casa, who edited the book, though many schools somehow find the money to pay several football coaches.
As high school football players head back to the fields this August, “that should scare … any parent in America,” Casa said. Casa’s organization, the Korey Stringer Institute, says only one state, New Jersey, follows guidelines for acclimating high school athletes after a summer off. The institute was named for the Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman who collapsed and died of heat stroke in 2001.
With heat illnesses accounting for such a large portion of deaths among high school athletes, no football field should be without a tub of water and bags of ice for emergency cooling this summer, Casa said. Casa, who nearly died of heat stroke while competing in a 1985 high school track championship, offers this broad guideline: “When something feels different, when something feels strange, when something feels out of the ordinary, back down on your intensity.”
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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241 comments Add your comment
Reece
August 3rd, 2011
11:43 am
Maureen you are a women and have never practiced football in the heat or in general so please stop writing on a subject that you have no experience in.
so tired of the negativity...yawn...
August 3rd, 2011
11:48 am
so tired of the negativity…yawn…
fgfb, i am not impressed because apparently, you cannot read. in this post below, i stated i was a team mother and fed the football team. deductive reasoning skills are necessary to be an attorney, thank God i will never need one like you. #youarestillablockhead
August 3rd, 2011
10:36 am
…actually, i am not the type of parent that you apparently fear/hate. i was always a team mother, i fed nutritional meals to the entire high school football team and the coaches each week. i stand by your being a meathead, if you were not you would know that as far as conditioning goes, parents of athletes ensure they stay in shape
mom of young football player
August 3rd, 2011
11:55 am
Here in bama it’s always too hot in summer. I make my kids go outside during the day. Even if there’s nothing to do for the older ones but read a magazine. They need the sunlight. My son’s football team started practice in July. This is city league not school. I knew when they would start and I make sure my kid is conditioned to the heat by sending him to a daycamp where he is outside most of the day and swims and plays some sport every day. On weekends he helps with yard work and rides bikes or we all go for long walks. Yes in this awful heat. He is in the habit of drinking 4 – 6 water bottles during the day while he is at camp and some more during football practice. It’s so important to make the parents and kids understand that they need to be well hydrated before they get to practice. Believe it or not we have some parents that send their kids to practice with one very small bottle of gatorade and some with nothing at all. I always bring extra just in case. Also, it’s important to watch the size of your kid. Why let your child eat whatever just so you can say “he’s a big boy he should play football.” There’s a difference in a big fat boy and a big strong boy. I feed my kids tons of fruit and veggies, along with protein and the right kind of carbs. It’s not a scientific diet, it’s just common sense. My kids drink organic whole milk, orange juice and water. No sodas (only on special occasions), no other juice drinks. No sports drinks – something in gatorade makes my son throw up. If you want their little bodies to perform you have to fuel them correctly. No junk food – no sugary drinks with caffiene. No supplements. Hydrate before during and after. Acclimate them to their climate. Make them go outside. Chuck the game system out the window. My kid is not the biggest, not the fastest, but he is strong and he has a lot of stamina. And thankfully, they’ve cancelled practice this week due to the heat.
Former Gwinnett Football Player
August 3rd, 2011
12:04 pm
@so tired of the negativity…yawn…
Again, you did not address my point. As for my mistake from reading your poorly written post, this is not a problem with deductive reasoning. Which is it? Can I read or is my “deductive” reasoning in perilous disarray? This makes it even more alarming that you do not understand the necessary attitude to play football, since apparently YOUR CHILD played. I would like to get YOUR CHILD’S honest opinion on the matter. Feeding a team a weekly team meal does not qualify as preparing your child. Again, the preparation necessary is accomplished in June and July in pre-season workouts. I point to your quote again, “who would want their children practicing all summer long??” The answer to this question has been made in my previous posts. SO THAT THEY DON’T DIE!! The parents that understand the larger scale problem, are the who understand that training all summer is necessary to avoid these injuries. Your ignorance is exuded through your repeated references to me as a “blockhead.” I think that the derogatory term given to athletes and football players in general is “meathead.” If all of this is news to you then I do not want to explain what a “blockhead” is. It may interrupt this world of coddling and anti-weening you are living in.
so tired of the negativity...yawn...
August 3rd, 2011
12:08 pm
actually, i changed you over to a blockhead because comments that are contrary to your point of view are not making it through to your brain. and as one of the coaches stated, practicing and conditioning are not necessarily the same. and as I said, my child was conditioned throughout the year, now go away, bye bye.
Former Gwinnett Football Player
August 3rd, 2011
12:12 pm
So they practice all summer long now?
Former Gwinnett Football Player
August 3rd, 2011
12:16 pm
I was understanding the facts that you were stating. However, they were contrary to the point you were trying to make. Don’t use an argument ad hominem to assist you in making your point. It is the most used fallacy in the world today. Look it up.
Former Gwinnett Football Player
August 3rd, 2011
12:17 pm
And don’t go run and ask your husband, I bet he feels the same way I do. That is if he hasn’t given up on trying to have you understand an argument being made.
Shiri
August 3rd, 2011
12:21 pm
When you sweat you need to replenish with water and sodium (salt) when in hot weather. If you drink a lot of plain water it can dilute the sodium in your body and can cause death.
Officials need to supply the salt tablets when students drink a lot of water. Gatorade can help, but salt works faster.
zincc
August 3rd, 2011
12:36 pm
Maybe if we didn’t start school during the hottest part of our summer these things wouldn’t happen. I know they didn’t happen before when school started in September!
Former Gwinnett Football Player
August 3rd, 2011
12:39 pm
#winning
Philosopher
August 3rd, 2011
12:42 pm
@Check it out: that’s good to hear- but maybe not even good enough…when I ran last night at 7p.m., it was still 95 degrees with 95 percent humidity- and even very well-trained, that is rough!
livininatl
August 3rd, 2011
12:42 pm
Concrete Pete ….the thing is…when they step on that field they belong to YOU…you don’t want Mom or Dad involved on YOUR field so that means you take responsibility for what happens on YOUR field….if you allow a child to stay on YOUR team on YOUR field that is not in shape..shame on you.
And btw…my neglected kid is coached by his Dad…a coach.
Philosopher
August 3rd, 2011
12:44 pm
I can’t decide what is more important here- chasing the old pigskin, or refusing to admit that starting school the first of August was one of the stupidest ideas ever pushed over on the public.
Lynn
August 3rd, 2011
1:26 pm
It isn’t necessarily the size of the player. In this heat smaller players who are in shape and have spent the summer working out in the heat are having problems. What is the true heat on these turf fields? You can see the heat waves coming off these fields. And coaches putting conditioning drills into the last hour of a 7AM to 1PM practice are to blame as well. You are jeopardizing these players lives.
The comment from GHSA is ludicrous. Basically, they don’t know how to respond and if a couple of players die, why should that impact the rest who are living through practices. Really, Swearngin (head of GHSA)? This is your response to two players dying this week due to heat and football. Your policies are too weak and you do know what to do. You are deliberately endangering the lives of thousands of players.
Techmom
August 3rd, 2011
1:42 pm
Just received an email from my son’s school that all afternoon outdoor activities have been cancelled today. He goes to a school in Locust Grove near Locust Grove HS where Forrest Jones, the boy who died last night, went to school. I think it’s hitting home…
alan
August 3rd, 2011
1:48 pm
let me start by sending out my condolences to the two families that have been forever changed by their loss. if you research these heat related deaths, most of the football related ones are tied to “big boys”. As a father of a “big boy” that plays football, I am very aware of the dangers that come with practicing in the severe heat of south georgia! we must remember that most of the kids that participate in sports do so for 2 reasons, the first is the love of the game and the 2nd is thrill that goes along with being a star player. occasonally you have a kid who is a star AND loves the game, these are the special kids that we all love to see play, because in most cases they practice the way they play on a friday night. kids today are taught at an early age that in order to be a star athlete, that they most have some sort of competitive advantage. this is true from the standpoint of they have to utilize their talent and effort. some kids and parents try to shortcut this process by adding performance enhancing substances to their routine, just like others stick by the tried and true method of hardwork and perseverance. generally speaking the ones that try to shortcut will be penalized in some way. my son was a one sport kid, he decided early on that he wanted to concentrate on football. which meant that he “voluntarily” attended shool sponsored workouts in the off season. sometimes people get the impression that these types of kids get preferential treatment because they showed up for this training, but in most cases the extra training they received gave them a competitive edge over those kids that didn’t attend.
i remember when i played football and baseball, the two sports never overlapped. but, in todays environment of “travel ball” it is very easy for a kid to be playing baseball during football season. i think that we as parents need to stop and realize the we are expecting our kids to do too much. i’m not sure that most kids aren’t playing for the wrong reason, ideas that have been planted in their heads by television and over zealous parents that think their child is special. it is easy to forget that any athelitc participation is “voluntary”, however the training is a requirement to be successful. this training has to be structured to fit the entire team, not just one or two individuals.
i have read most of the post on this story and tend to believe that there is validity in most of the points being made, but also understand that it still boils down to individual kids and circumstances. it is a horrible tragedy when anything like this happens, but there is tragedy in all facets of life. we have become a society that teaches our kids to blame their failures on someone else and take 100% credit for their successes and this is wrong. life in general is a team sport and in order to be successful we have to apply this concept to family, job, church, civic and all other areas of our lives.
us congess enacts new laws on a daily basis, and most of them come about to protect a small group that has been adversely effected. but, these laws end up punishing a much larger group. this is what is wrong with our country today, to many people have taken common sense of the equation. we try to come up with a formula of how things should be done, like life is an exact science. none of us are guaranteed tomorrow, and we need to get back to the fundamentals that this great nation was established on. it is a proven fact, that you will only get out of something what you are willing to put into it. we all have opinions, and shouldn’t be persecuted when ours is different than others.
Philosopher
August 3rd, 2011
3:03 pm
@alan…while I do appreciate the jist of what you are trying to say, I think dying is getting a little bit too much for what they put in.
newone
August 3rd, 2011
3:58 pm
I did know one of the young men you are talking about. Practice ran an hour longer than scheduled- with NO additional water in that hour. Also, if one did not feel good, they should have kept an eye on him. (there must be a DOZEN coaches)Also, a trainer can be afforded by the school system- give the trainer part of the head coach’s $100K!!That young man was soooo smart and soooooo talented. And the coaches called other relatives of his before calling his mama! And why would you head SOUTH- to even hotter weather when it’s already hot enough here!!!What about evening practices- in your hometown- where your mama can get to you- IF you’re allowed to have a cell phone.
amazed
August 3rd, 2011
4:06 pm
People act like any of this is new. Its always a tragedy but it used to happen more when coaches withheld water as people didn’t understand. I decided I didn’t want to play football back in the 70s when the 1st week of August a week before school they were out practicing in full pads. And that was in the Houston heat and humidity which is worse than the norm in Atlanta and that was 8th grade!
Someone makes the good point that it is water AND salt that is necessary. You can be well hydrated but low on electrolytes and pass out.
Its the responsibility of the coaches not to push too hard on hot days (and to choose times when its safer and also more effective to train). But the kids have to not push themselves too hard either. Every person is different and the coaches can’t know everything. I think the reason cross-country runners have less problems is because they know their bodies and when to back off. They’re also trained to hydrate. I was near heat stroke in HS one hot day early in the cross-country season as I was feeling chills (temperature was upper 90s), but I slowed down and moved into the shade (I probably should have started walking). Parents and coaches need to educate the kids on the signs of heat stroke. It doesn’t have to be August to have it happen.
Ole Guy
August 3rd, 2011
4:24 pm
This never appeared to be a problem (stress the past tense on “appeared”). August football practice, during the 60s, in LA/Lower Alabama, was the norm. The unwritten, common sense rules prevailed: Drink water, stay off the booze, etc, etc. Most of all, however, was the fact that youth, in an era of no computers, no technology beyond the “hi fi stereo, etc, was in far far better shape, physically, physiologically, and, more importantly, psychologically.
There have been many who are quick to deride these comments as coming from one “locked in the past”…one refusing to acknowledge the popular (though foolish) thought that “yesteryears” values have no relation/no relative context to that of today. LOOK AT THE RESULTS:
* kids in the military continue to fail simple physical fitness tests.
* the onset of maladies, once the domain of “ole folks”, strikes younger and younger kids.
* the sales of “prep books” for military induction tests seem to rise every year. At one time, the only requirement for these tests was to be in a semi-state of sobriety.
* kids have consumed so-called “junk food” forever. However, junk food, consumed by generations who know nothing of daily physical activity, is the primary cause of today’s health woes among kids AND adults.
Blaming the schools for not making available sufficient time/facilities for physical activity is the biggest copout of all.
Get with the program, people; stop coddling these damn kids with every whim which their lil’ole hearts desire. NO COMPUTER GAMES; NO TV…GET YOUR YOUNG SIX OUT THERE AND PLAY BALL!
Philosopher
August 3rd, 2011
4:48 pm
Dear ole guy- I agree that kids are spoiled (as in ruined ) by their parents in the health department. But we cannot go back to the “good ole days- and even if we could, it would not be overnight. So while I agree that we need to shape up and toughen up our kids, I simply disagree that ANY child needs to be out in dangerous heat/humidity situations risking their lives over a damn football game. There is no reason not to engage in other activities or alter when, where, and how, practice takes place until it is safe to proceed. NO kid needs to die over the almighty pigskin institution. No one has with any real knowledge about these kids has said that these kids were out of shape, couch potato, game-playing, TV watching kids. Some kids, including my own are raised differently.
Lisa Waller
August 3rd, 2011
5:41 pm
Thanks for sharing this information, Maureen. I shared with my son’s coach. We’re signing parents up to bring ice to each practice and game until temperatures are cooler. I’m headed out now to get a big plastic tub, and we’re also augmenting with PVC pipe. Apparently, the coaches attending a workshop where the trainer showed them that PVC pipe can be used as an easy and effective tool to bring down body temperature when paired with water and ice. You use a 3 foot long section of PVC pipe that is 6-8 inches in diameter. Cap it off on one end. Fill it with water and a handful of ice. Put the players arm in. It will bring the body temperature down. Of course, we’ll have these on hand, as well as the tub for quick full-body immersion for our team. Thanks so much for giving us practical advice that we can use immediately to help our kids.
newone
August 3rd, 2011
5:52 pm
wow,lisa, that’s great. sad,though that the parents would have to do it. great that you can! maybe these will be the LAST heat-related football deaths.
Ole Guy
August 3rd, 2011
6:07 pm
Agreed, Philo. However, you know, and I know…that there are stupid ways of going about our daily tasks, and there are smart means of achieving the same desired results. With longer days/daylight hours, there is no reason why human activity must come to a screeching halt. When it rains, we don our rain gear and proceed with the process of life…when the sun’s rays seem too much, we take precautionary measures…and get on with the process of life. Yes, it’s just a damn football game; it’s just another “game” in the saga of mankind. Are we to go running inside at the first sign of rain? Likewise (assuming the kids signed up for the football squad with the implied knowledge/consent that they just might have to subject themselves to one degree or another of discomfort), if the sun presents potential health hazzards, do we simply call off the “big game of life”, or do we teach these kids to endure and prevail? There are ways to manage, and to mitigate the “discomforts” of practicing in unfavorable conditions: Frequent water/rest breaks, perhaps an open tent erected by the side of the practice field, etc. I did it, I am quite certain you may have been compeled to deal with unfavorable conditions of one sort or another…all in the interest of achieving both personal and team goals.
My arguement stems, not so much with these issues, but with the (what seems to me to be) bigger picture. WHY are kids, today, in such poor physical conditioning? WHAT has led to this state? WHAT can parents, teachers/the educational community, and (not to relieve kids of personal responsibility) the kids themselves do to address the issue?
I don’t think I have to remind you of the direct linkages between physical conditioning and academic challenges. Likewise, physical cond in the early years and the direct impact on well-being into the adult years. Likewise (as I feel may apply to my personal approach to life’s challenges, both big and small), the direct linkages between, say, contending with the sun’s heat during football practice and, twenty/thirty/forty years hence, living by a can-do creed/adopting a “deal with the problem” attitude and getting on with the program. Perhaps this just may be why/how I have managed to deal with the many normal-and-expected (and a few unexpected) travails in life and managed to acquire my current/modest station in life.
There just may be a lot to gain…or loose…simply by learning how to play in the sun.
As always, Philo, it’s great sharing a few thoughts with you.
Philosopher
August 3rd, 2011
6:33 pm
Ole Guy- I think we’re only disagreeing about degrees here- pun intended-. As a lifelong runner, I understand about conditioning and training- and the discomforts of weather- have run when it was below freezing and yesterday in 95 degrees, in rain, snow, and everything in-between. I’m not talking discomfort here, but danger. There is a line that is crossed when you put a child’s life in jeopardy over practicing to play a game. I fully appreciate the pull of football on the male pyche, and the economic ties. But some things can’t be conditioned for…and risking another person’s (much less a child’s) life over football with heat indices over 100 is one of those lines we have no business crossing.
concerned football parent
August 3rd, 2011
6:56 pm
Ole guy……I disagree that HS football players are in worse shape than when we played in the 60’s and 70’s. HS school football players in general are in much better shape than decades ago. The average kid might not be due to the advent of video games. i played on a great football team in the 70,s but we would get steamrolled by today s teams Back then lineman were 195. Now lineman in HS school are upwards of 270-290 lbs, and some 300 +.
It really is Simple !!!
August 3rd, 2011
9:25 pm
@ State Champion Trainer – you are definitely the only one here who is on to something here. I am a former military officer and all Officers and NCOs are trained to “Train Safely in the Heat.” We were able to train in full military gear in similar heat without casualties because of the approach we took to training. It was all about mandating pre-hydration levels for all soldiers, doing frequent hydration breaks, and going more “nocturnal” doing the majority of training before 9 a.m. and after 9 p.m. Sure, soldiers overall are in better condition to start with than most young HS players, but the same approach can work with high school players. And if you had a soldier that was a heat casualty, if you were found to not have followed training protocols, you were fired.
Many high schools also have equipment nowadays that is not all that expensive. It can be placed in the helmets of players and it measures core body temperature and sends those signals to the head trainer. When it gets in the caution zone, an alarm sounds and the player is immediately rested and hydrated until they are approved to resume training by the trainer. The high risk players like big lineman are the priority to have these units in their helmets. They are the high risk kids. If you look at the two kids in these GA incidents, they are both lineman. The GHSA and Swearingen need to be more vigilant about what can be permitted in respective wet bulb – heat categories, and that football coaches are trained and certified to run practices in each category. It is too “loose” in GA, too many “Bubba” or “When I was your age” coaches who are loose cannons thinking they are Bear Bryant running kids into the ground.
gamom
August 3rd, 2011
10:13 pm
Practice tomorrow for softball has been changed to 7:00 am to 10;00 am. The girls were practicing from 9 am to 3 pm. It’s not just football players, but anyone out in this heat is in danger. What about band? A lot of them are practicing outside too. There were a couple of football players that got sick in Forsyth too. Haven’t heard anything else, so I hope they are o.k.
gamom
August 3rd, 2011
10:15 pm
Plus, I think these kids are afraid to speak up if they are not feeling well. You know, it’s not cool to appear ‘weak’, so these kids are driving themselves into the danger zone and it happens way too quickly, before the effects of the heat can be reversed. I am constantly telling my kid to tank up on water when she gets home from practice.
indians
August 3rd, 2011
10:23 pm
Very simple answer to this problem…GHSA needs to pass a rule that there is no outside practice, in August, until after 6PM. That should solve the heat problem, permanately.
amazed
August 3rd, 2011
10:28 pm
It is really the coaches or leaders just being reasonable. You mention band, gamom. My sister’s band in Indiana had pretty heavy uniforms and they had a day where 3 or 4 people passed out (noone seriously injured). I don’t remember the temperature that day, but I’m betting it wasn’t nearly as hot as we have been having here. But it was hotter than normal for Indiana.
cobb mom of 4
August 3rd, 2011
11:49 pm
My child will not put his life at risk for the entertainment of others.
bill
August 4th, 2011
7:57 am
The GHSA will not set hard rules because they need to be able to deny responsibility. They never are to blame for anything.
Several years ago I officiated a North Georgia Football League game. The officials had three games to work. At the end of the first game only three officials could continue . At halftime of the third game a parent told me I should stop the game because of the heat. I told her this. You can take your son home anytime you want. The coaches can agree to stop the game but I do not have the authority to stop a game in progress for the heat any more than I can stop a game if the star quarterback breaks his leg. At the end of the third game there were 10 emergency vehicles in the stadium tending to the players. Two officials were in the emergency room and one was home for sveral days. I was sick but I was determined not to show weakness in front of my peers. Players are the same way . Coaches are so hipocritical when they say that the players should know when they have had enough. If you do not complete your wind sprints you are not sick you are not in shape or you are not trying. Run or quit are the normal options. I was criticised because we monitored kids during this heat game and if they did not drink during the extra water breaks we sent them off the field. It only took a couple of discussions with the coaches before every player drank at every break. I thought I was going to be arrested after the games for child endangerment. My wife told me I was lucky I did not die out there at 52 years old.
Ole Guy
August 4th, 2011
3:58 pm
Football Parent, I can’t possibly see how a 16/18 year old kid weighing in at 250+++ can be considered “in shape”. Have you ever watched an Army/Navy game, or a game between one of the Service academies and a civilian college? THOSE folks are in good shape, not because they attend a unique school but because they, either by personal choice or by imposition of strict regimen, know how to maintain reasonable weight/BMI and still remain competitive on the field…given neither of the Service academie’s ball squad’s glow within the collegiate environment,
As a former athlete (current, if you count racket ball, running and “tossing weights around the gym”), I KNOW what lifelong wellness is all about. The kids you describe as “big bruiser 250/280 pounders” do not impress me whatsoever as being in shape. Good game records notwithstanding, when two teams, comprised of the “physical disasters” you describe, play ball, one team or the other is bound to win. People/coaches with rocks in their heads, and only the goal of a career-enhancing record of having coached a team of “winners” will advocate the high school kid at center/guard/tackle gaining, and carrying around, such weight.
The SMART coach will simply run pass patterns and other “no-pads” conditioning drills in the hot, humid August weather. Even then, full-contact scrimage, supervised SMARTLY, will not hurt the kid who’s made to understand that a little physical discomfort won’t kill him…IF he’s smart and IF the coach is smart.
Having recently retired from the Military, I had to deal with many so-called ex-hs superstars who, at 18/20-something, couldn’t run without the meat wagon on standby. I am not at all impressed with your characterization of “280 pound 18 y/o blimps” as being anywhere near conditioned to any reasonable level of performance, much less the propensity/likelihood of growing up to embrace a lifelong love and respect of physical conditioning.
BTW: as a 40/50 something, I (on purpose) shamed many a-kid on all events of the Army APFT…run, push-up, sit-up.
Ole Guy
August 4th, 2011
4:05 pm
Right on, Philo! I remember running in the teen-to-twenty temps; “sweatcicles” hanging from my sweat band! I completely concur…our (so-called) “disagreements” are merely a function of degree. As athletes, both young and (clearing of throat) experienced, we sometimes/often subject ourselves to otherwise questionable conditions. Weather that’s foolish or simply an outward manifestation of a “can-do” mentality up for grabs.
The key, I suppose, is “be smart; be safe”, and…ENJOY!
Health Conscious
August 5th, 2011
5:45 pm
A young person’s death at this age is so needless and sad. This poor child, whose size was described in the AJC as 5′8″ and 240 pounds (down from 275), was seriously obese. His body mass index was 36.5! A number over 30 indicates obesity. No one could argue that he was “in good shape.” We mourn his loss and what he might have contributed to the world (maybe something important, and that doesn’t include football). Families and schools should constantly ask themselves what they are doing to contribute to or subtract from children’s health.
Carrie
August 5th, 2011
7:45 pm
I am an athletic trainer at a high school in Georgia. The biggest issue seems to be recognition, and that is why I strongly believe in athletic training in high schools as mandatory practice. I have been working with my football and softball team this past week, and we have had some heat related issues that were not severe because of early recognition and keeping these players from going back into the heat. I am fortunate to have a very supportive coaching staff that understand the dangers and have been shortening practices. I wonder what the care of the two children that died entailed…do they have medical staff at their practices? Did they get diagnosed early?
mike craven
August 6th, 2011
12:41 pm
Negligence or liability need not be foreseeable to satisfy the causation of the element of negligence. Restricting water in practice today would be considered negligent. However Joe Paterno restricted water the first 10 years as a college coach.Did our veiws as coaches change from understanding thermal balance better or LEADERS steping up to make us change. There are many risk factors that lead to EXERTIONAL HEAT STROKE but the no 1 is not dehydration but high intensity effort combined with a low MET score.The amount of heat produced from muscles is directly proportional to the rate of energy expended, measure in a MET score.Players with low MET scores have the potential for more heat storage during exercise even when not dehydrated. A low MET score is reflected of a low cardio output which can affect the rate of bloodflow that can get to muscles for energy and skin for heat release.A player with a low MET per min, high bodymass to surface area ,lack of time spent to devolped or eliminate ( AEROBIC STRENGTH) in training has not prepared themselves to be acclimated to what the practice and environment will bring .Overweight players with low MET scores being overmotivated by what appears to be a lack of hustle versus what is a DEFICIENCY in aerobic strength that can be measure can elevate core temperatures to dangerous levels in the absence of significant dehydration in 20 to 30 minutes.Check out YOU-TUBE TRUE FITNESS SOLUTIONS HEAT STROKE.
deborah
August 7th, 2011
11:30 pm
Why theyc changed the date to start school is beyond me and stupid. But tat does notmean you have to start practice then keepit in thelate fall.It seems the adults have no brains.
Ole Guy
August 8th, 2011
9:24 am
One more issue, regarding “safe” environments, should be explored: As we venture through our daily doings, either as kids or as adults, we will seldom find ourselves in a completely “safe” environment, whether we’re talking about the heat, the cold, the traffic, or any number of variables. We cannot simply blame others for the unfortunate deaths of those who chose to function within adverse conditions while ignoring common sense precautions. If one chooses to drive on the interstate while “poopoo-faced”, heading into the rising/setting sun with a crummy windshield and winds up on the “wining end” of the Darwin Award… after expressions of sorrow over the passing of “such a great guy”, it could be easily argued that, despite being such a good guy, it was, in the end, HIS STUPIDITY (and his alone) which took his life. You can blame the auto manufacture, the tire manufacture, the Easter Bunny and Santa’s helpers, but, in the end, we all know who is/was responsible.
Now if we go ape over this particular event, as unfortunate as it is, just how do we begin to impart, upon these stupid kids, the concept of taking precautions in an imperfect world? Playing football, on a hot day, is the very least of the adverse conditions in which these kids will be obliged to function, both as teens, and as (responsible) adults. When it becomes too hot, too cold, too this or too that, are these kids, and the adults which they will become, to presume that the world will simply cease to turn until more-favorable conditions develop?
In the Military, and particularly in hazardous conditions, we are trained to think in terms of “threat analysis”…what potentially-harmful conditions may exist within the area in which we intend to function. As simple as this may seem, it is precisely the responsibility of the individual entering the hazardous environment.
So while we mourn such senseless loss, perhaps it would be wise to impress upon youth that THEY, and they alone, bear ULTIMATE responsibility for their own sixes.