In a precautionary measure, Georgia State last year began using a new technology aimed at preventing players from suffering heat exhaustion, dehydration and other conditions that can occur when football coincides with hot temperatures.
Players wear tiny sensors in their helmets that transmit their temperatures to a handheld device carried by one of Georgia State’s athletic trainers. When a player’s temperature reaches 102.5 degrees, a signal goes off on the device.
The body’s normal temperature is 98.6 degrees and between 99-100 when wearing a helmet. A person can suffer a heat stroke at 104 degrees. Two high school players in the state died recently after collapsing during football workouts. The cause of their deaths hasn’t been determined.
Bob Murphy, Georgia State’s associate athletic director for medicine and nutrition, carried one of the devices, made by Hothead Technologies, during Thursday’s first practice in unseasonably cool weather. During a practice or game, each player’s temperature is checked and transmitted to the handheld device every 30 seconds.
However, Murphy doesn’t have to wait for their temperature to hit 102.5. When he notices a player’s temperature spiking, he will pull them out of practice. The player has to take off his helmet, sit in the shade and drink plenty of fluids until his temperature reaches a safe level. He estimated that he pulled two players out of practice each week last season.
“It makes me feel comfortable that our young men are safe,” athletic director Cheryl Levick said.
Coach Bill Curry said players gathered Wednesday night for their annual discussion of heat-related do’s and don’t’s.
“We would have done it regardless, but the fact there is this tragic overtone to our sport,” Curry said. “It’s not just the last few days, it’s the last few years. What has changed the most, and this is good, is awareness.”
The first words from Georgia coach Mark Richt on the day of the Bulldogs’ first preseason practice Thursday afternoon was about the heat his team was going to face.
“It’s certainly smoking hot out there right now,” he said. “I’m just so thankful that we’ve got our real grass out there that we can practice on.”
If Richt could help it, the Bulldogs would not practice in the hottest part of the day — they’re starting at 4:30 p.m. the first two days. It just so happened that some of the players are wrapping up their summer second-semester final exams Thursday and Friday. But beginning Saturday, all practices will begin before 9 a.m., with the exception of two days when they’ll practice twice. In those cases the second workout will begin at 5 p.m.
In the meantime, they’re doing everything they can to make the 90-minute workouts as accommodating as possible for the players.
“We’re adding an extra break or two,” Richt said. “We always have water breaks in the middle of practice, but we’ll add a couple of breaks where for five minutes we’ll get them out of the heat, get them in the shade and get them where they can hydrate.”
There will be four five-minute breaks. Multiple “water cows,” as they call the containers that carry liquid refreshment, are stationed behind every position drill. And the training staff stands ready to respond to emergencies.
Ron Courson, UGA’s director of sports medicine, said the most important thing when someone overheats is to give him a full-body cool-down as fast as possible. That prevents organ shutdown. UGA has a large tub of ice water just off the field inside its training room that they carry a fallen player into and then totally submerge him. Trainers practice the routine by using a 200-pound dummy to see how quickly they can get from the field into the tub.
Junior linebacker Christian Robinson recalled being overcome as a freshman and being removed from practice the rest of the day. “I was worn out and dazed and confused,” he said. He said the freshmen are the ones you have to look out for because they’re focused on impressing coaches and fellow players.
Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said he is “always conscious” of heat conditions and defers to the training staff on decisions about practicing in heat or inclement weather.
“You just don’t mess with that stuff,” he said.
The Yellow Jackets now have the option of taking practice into their new indoor facility. Johnson said Wednesday that if the team were in full pads — players wore jerseys, shorts and helmets for the first two practices — in extremely hot weather, he would be inclined to go inside. On Thursday, with lightning conditions in Midtown, the team practiced inside for about half of practice.
“You definitely hate to hear about some of the stuff that’s gone on,” A-back Roddy Jones said. “It’s a wake-up call to guys that it’s serious. You have to take care of your body.”
Staff writer Ken Sugiura contributed to this article.
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