Group hands down practice guidelines

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In hopes of preventing future heat-related fatalities, the National Athletic Trainers' Association released new preseason training guidelines for high school athletes Thursday.

While the announcement did not single out any sports, most of the new guidelines deal with conditions involving football.

They explain what the length of practices should be and what equipment players should and should not practice in.

For example, the NATA suggests each practice should last no longer than three hours, and that two-a-days should not begin until the sixth day of fall camp.

Area football coaches believe players are better equipped to handle the heat in August because of better conditioning, thanks to the IHSA giving schools 25 days to practice in the summer.

"With the 25 days of contact in the summer (between coaches and players), the weightlifting and conditioning you're able to do with your kids, we're able to bring them to camp in August in pretty darn good shape," Waubonsie Valley coach Paul Murphy said. "The days of kids showing up and having done no football all summer and showing up in August to go to practice are pretty much passé."

Football has come under the microscope in terms of how long practices go and the intensity of those sessions. According to the Annual Survey of Football Injury Research, 29 high school football players nationwide have died from heat-related illnesses since 1995.

Heatstroke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is considered the most serious heat illness. It occurs when the body's cooling system can't control the body's temperature.

Symptoms of heatstroke include rapid pulse, lack of sweat, dizziness, temperature measured above 103 degrees, confusion and nausea.

The IHSA requires teams to practice in helmets and shorts for the first three days of fall camp.

Murphy said the IHSA seems to be doing the right thing by limiting attire to helmets and shorts for the first three days of practice because it falls in line with what the NATA outlined.

However, Naperville North coach Larry McKeon believes the restriction is unnecessary.

"For us to go even by the old rule where you have to have three days of practice with just a helmet on -- that doesn't even fit anymore," he said. "That (rule) was for the days when people didn't have summer programs. Now you should be able to suit a kid up the very first day of practice. It's outdated. You don't really need it anymore."

Neuqua Valley coach Bryan Wells said he believed it to be a good plan when it was conceived but concurred with McKeon, saying the 25 days of contact in the summer have changed the way teams can prepare for fall camp.

The NATA suggest high schools should implement a collegiate rule, which states schools are allowed to have only one practice the day after a two-a-day session. Because schools in the area are beginning classes earlier in August, two-a-days are becoming less prevalent.

This fall, schools can't begin football practice until Aug. 12. District 204 begins classes Aug. 20. Based on that time frame, Neuqua and Waubonsie will have four two-a-day practices.

"We're actually going to be practicing in the late afternoon to evening (in August), so we're out of the heat of the day at that point anyway," Wells said. Prep Football