Thousands of kids representing more than 350 Georgia teams will take the field this week for the first practice of the high school football season.
Most programs will have athletic trainers walking around with instruments that provide danger-zone readings for heat and humidity. Coaches will provide frequent water breaks. Ice will be available. Canopies will provide shade.
Taking precautions to prevent heat-related problems is paramount. In this day and age, even the older coaches — who years ago viewed water breaks as a sign of weakness — get it.
Which brings us to the question:
Were yesterday’s high school football players better equipped to handle the early season heat than today’s players?
James “Friday” Richards, head coach, Marietta High
“Definitely. The kids of today are growing up, and have grown up, in what I call the Nintendo generation, and they are used to staying in the house and playing those TV games. ... I’ve been in this for 33 years, 14 as a head coach, and lucky enough to coach some of the parents who have kids playing for me now. The parents were better at dealing with the heat because they played outside all the time.
“Here’s what led to the change. I know back when I was playing football, I worked outside during the summer months and we played sports and games outside. Today, you have so many situations where both the parents are working, so it’s OK for the kids to stay in the house.
“We gave water breaks when I first started coaching, but I don’t think we had the concerns we have today. I’ve been fortunate enough during the 14 years that I’ve been a head coach to have an athletic trainer with us. We do exactly what he tells us to do when it comes to dealing with the heat.”
Bill Luckie,
Head coach, Northgate
“I’m not sure that’s the case with the good programs, because the kids are working out year-round and have gotten used to the heat. They are doing something out the heat all year.
“But not all schools work like that, so some kids aren’t as ready for it. I’m terrified when kids move into the district from out-of-state and want to come out for football. If I don’t know whether they’ve been working out in heat, I won’t even let them get in pads until I know they are ready. It only takes about 10 minutes to watch a kid run in this heat to know whether he is ready for it.
“Now it’s true that when we were growing up, we played outside all the time — softball, whiffle-ball and everything else — and never really worried about the heat. But now you can drive through neighborhood after neighborhood and never see a kid playing outside. The back-yard games have gone by the wayside.”
Compiled by Tim Ellerbee, external content editor
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