DEL.ICIO.USMetro Atlanta coaches mixed on ending August two-a-days
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, June 18, 2009
The metro area’s high school football coaches have mixed reactions to a nationwide request to eliminate two-a-day practices during the first week of August.
The suggestion was made after the release of a report at Thursday’s meeting of the National Association of Athletic Trainers in San Antonio, according to The Associated Press. The report said heat stroke has been proved dangerous for high school players during two-a-days for the opening week of August, and it’s simply a logical step to follow standards set at the college level.
AJC file
Metro Atlanta coaches say many precautions are in place to prevent a tragedy during two-a-day practices. However, opinions are mixed on whether they should be eliminated.
The area’s coaches say that the safety of players is always the No. 1 priority, but they already have many precautions in place. They all agree that the trainer’s request to eliminate two-a-days is unlikely to be followed unless it is mandatory.
Here is reaction from some coaches:
• Blessed Trinity coach Ricky Turner: “We practice kids early in the morning and late at night that first week. We have a trainer on the field at all times of the day. We’ve never really had a problem with two-a-days and go strictly by what the trainer says. We watch it really close.
“That’s four extra days of practice before school gets started for us. I would love to see it continue. It’s great for ‘team building’ for us, like what teams get when they go away for camp.” Turner says his team practices at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. the first four days.
• McEachern coach Kyle Hockman: “What we do is go out at 5 p.m. in shorts and do some work with skills and special teams. Then we go out again from 8:30 to 10 p.m. … do things when it is a lot cooler. If you count something like that as a two-a-day, then that’s going to be a tough sell, and you’ll probably have to have a rule passed before teams go to it.
“We already have a lot of heat precautions in place for the kids. We’re very aware of it and have our trainers in charge of monitoring things.”
• M.L. King coach Corey Jarvis: “I believe coaches should use better judgment on when and how they practice. I believe if you monitor the kids, then you can eliminate heat exhaustion. We’ve been very fortunate, knock on wood, that we haven’t had any serious cases. We have kids that get cramps or may begin to show signs of heat exhaustion, but we’re monitoring it.
“Coaches need to understand that times have changed. The kids have changed. The weather patterns have changed. It appears that the coaches are smarter, but it’s still enough to have people worried.”
Jarvis says his team practices at 6 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. for the first eight days of August. They are weighed and carry around a gallon of water that they must drink during the day.
“I would be against eliminating two-a-days,” Jarvis said. “We monitor our kids. We start Aug. 1 and have 12 days before our first scrimmage. We need all the time we can get.”
• Stephenson coach Ron Gartrell: “We never have had two-a-day practices and we never will. I was never a fan of that as a player. We work our kids very hard in the offseason with conditioning drills so we don’t have to practice as long in August. We go out around 5 p.m. for three hours.”
“I don’t see other teams giving up two-a-days because it’s a tradition. Some coaches feel like the more time you have with your kids, the better you’re going to be. I don’t think giving up two-a-days will go over with the coaches unless it’s forced, where all teams have to do the same.”
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