Teams look to beat heat with practice set to begin
Safety is the No. 1 concern as players begin conditioning
Monday morning is a special day for thousands of players and coaches across Florida as football teams begin practices to get ready for the 2019 season.
“I get excited every year,” St. Andrew’s coach Jimmy Robertson said. “Every year motivates me. I love football; I love what I do.”
But when these teams take to the field in helmets and shorts, they’ll have to cope with the brutal July heat and humidity.
Temperatures are expected to reach the low-90s across Broward and Palm Beach counties, and typical Florida humidity will push heat indices closer to 100 degrees.
The Florida High School Athletic Association has tips on its website about how to prevent heat illness and has heat acclimatization policies in place, which include limits on practice time and recommendations for cooldown areas. Restrictions on drinking water are not allowed, and the guidelines say players should never be denied access to water.
Unfortunately, there has been a recent tragedy to remind Florida coaches of the potential dangers of heat. Hillsborough County suspended all summer football workouts after 14-year-old Hezekiah Walters collapsed and died during football conditioning drills at Tampa Middleton. Walters had a body temperature of 102 degrees, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Coconut Creek coach Gerald Cox said he once had a player suffer from full-body cramps due to heat, but he said he has not seen any issues since then.
“It was kind of crazy, so we saw that he was dehydrated so we packed some ice around his body and that kind of stuff,” Cox said. “I’ve been there. But recently we haven’t because we do a good job of monitoring all the kids to make sure we’re not overworking them.”
Some teams will make their players wake up early so they can take advantage of early-morning temperatures.
“We’ll be out on the field by 6:50 in the morning,” Robertson said. “We’re lucky enough to have fulltime trainers that are outstanding. We have plenty of water, we have cold baths, we have fans, we have tents. … We’re usually off the field by 9:15, 9:30.”
Teams still can practice in the afternoon, but most try to avoid the hottest parts of the day.
“We don’t do anything outside during the hottest part of the day, which is from 11 (a.m.) to 4 (p.m.),” Cox said. “We don’t do anything outside that will put them in that area. By the time we start our practice, it kind of cools down a little bit. It’s still hot because it’s still South Florida, but it’s not as hot.”