Beating the early season heat
Exertional heat stroke claimed the lives of five high school football players in the U.S. last summer, and with concerns about the potentially fatal illness sweeping the nation, the Montana High School Association (MHSA) added instructions on proper heat acclimatization to its mandatory online rules clinic for football coaches.
The information outlines the dangers of exertional heat stroke and the fudamentals of a heat acclimatization program, which includes beginning with shorter, less intense practices, minimizing protective gear, which traps body heat, and emphasizing instruction over conditioning during the first several practices. The MHSA is also encouraging coaches to view a 20-minute video available through the National Federation of State High School Associations’ (NFHS) web site, which explains the information in greater detail.
“Information on proper hydration and dealing with the heat has been presented before, but never to the level like it was put into the clinic this year,” MHSA assistant director Brian Michelotti said.
By inserting heat acclimatization information into its football rules clinic, the MHSA followed a recommendation by the NFHS’s sports and medicine committee, which is made up of doctors, trainers and employees of high school associations across the country.
Michelotti says Montana hasn’t had any reported cases of heat stroke in the eight years he’s worked for the MHSA, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. “That’s not to say cases haven’t happened, but none have been reported to our office,” he said.
All five of last summer’s fatalities occurred in southern states, but considering the temperature in northwest Montana routinely reached 90 degrees the first week of practice, Flathead High School football coach Russell McCarvel said he is glad heat acclimatization information was presented in the rules clinic.
“It’s all good stuff,” McCarvel said. “It’s certainly things that coaches need to have good reminders of. I would like to think we’ve been doing a lot of those things all along, but a good reminder is always important for us.”
McCarvel, who is in his sixth year as Flathead’s head football coach, said he’s never had a player suffer from heat stroke. “Part of that is probably that we’ve tried to be really cautious with it, but we haven’t had any heat-related issues at all,” he said.
The MHSA does not allow teams to workout in pads the first three days of practice, but McCarvel said he had his team remove pads later on when it got too hot.
“Once during the middle of two-a-days we had a whole day when we only went helmets and shoulder pads,” he said. “We’re pretty cognizant of things and we do not come out and have a big running test right away. We don’t come out from day one and just run, run, run.”
McCarvel said he also ran most conditioning drills in the morning when the temperature was cooler, and made sure coaches delivered water to players frequently.
Whitefish High School football coach Chad Ross said he also hasn’t had any heat-related incidents.
“I came here from Arizona so I think if anything I’ve always erred on the side of being over-prepared on that,” Ross said. “We take it slow the first couple days and keep them hydrated to keep them from cramping.”
When Ross came to Whitefish three years ago, he inserted a break in morning practices so his players would practice for 90 minutes, take a break to cool down, then practice another 90 minutes.
While last summer’s deaths put a spotlight on the dangers of exertional heat stroke, the problem is not new. The National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research reports that 35 high school football players died from exertional heat stroke between 1995 and 2010, and that the illness results in thousands of emergency room visits and hospitalizations each year year.
In 2009, a national task force made up of several sports medicine and health groups, including the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, put together a 14-day heat acclimatization plan designed to prevent exertional heat stroke. Among its key provisions are banning two-a-day practices the first five days and requiring two-a-day practices be followed by a single-practice day from days six through 14. New Jersey became the first state to adopt the plan in 2009 and several states, including Georgia, Connecticut, Texas and North Carolina have followed suit.
The NFHS, of which the MHSA is a member, has not adopted the 14-day heat acclimatization plan, but Michelotti said it might consider adopting a similar plan to limit two-a-days in the future. Montana football teams are currently allowed to begin two-a-days the first day of practice, which was Aug. 10 this season.
“The National committee reviewed those guidelines very closely and opted not to go with those,” Michelotti said. “Somewhere down the line there is a possibility we would implement it.”