Heat safety latest issue for football practice

Southwest Nebraska football players are getting a break this week with the start of two-a-days -- if any early football practice can be called "a break," -- thanks to the mild weather.

Temperatures are expected to read in only the 70s and 80s all week -- far below the triple digits that have been common in recent years.

Gone are the days, if they ever actually existed, when football coaches could concentrate strictly on "toughening up" their teams without regard for the safety of their players.

Pennsylvania is enjoying mild weather as well, but the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association is making doubly sure practices are as safe as possible by instituting a "heat acclimatization rule."

All coaches aren't exactly happy with the rules:

* Teams must go through three consecutive days of heat acclimatization practices before they can start full contact workouts Monday. The heat acclimatization practices couldn't start before Wednesday.

* Players are permitted to wear only helmets, shoulder pads and shorts the first two days of heat acclimatization practices without contact. They are allowed to wear full gear on the third day with no contact.

* The practices are limited to five hours daily and no practice can be more than three hours, with a minimum two-hour recovery period in between.

* No player is allowed to play in a scrimmage or game unless he has gone through three heat acclimatization practices to start the season.

* If teams don't want to conduct the three heat acclimatization practices this week, they can do so starting Monday. They could not have full contact until the fourth day (next Thursday).

The Nebraska Schools Activities Association doesn't go that far, but makes the following recommendations for football practice:

1. Schools should make a conscious effort to understand that heat and humidity can cause injury, illness, and even death in athletes who have not been properly acclimated to the conditions. Efforts should be made to practice in the cooler parts of the day when heat and humidity issues can be minimized. Regular and frequent water and rest breaks should be scheduled.

2. No early season football practice should exceed three hours in length. When a three-hour practice is scheduled, included within those three hours should be time for low-exertion instruction and water and rest breaks.

3. If two practices are scheduled for the same day, there should be a minimum of three hours of rest and recovery time scheduled between practices.

4. A school should schedule no more than three days of two-a-day practices per week, with no consecutive days of two-a-days. On days when two-a-day practices are scheduled, total practice time should be limited to a maximum of five hours per day.

5. A school should not schedule more than six consecutive days of football practice.

Everybody loves a winner, and coaches who don't come through will soon see their jobs on the line. With new emphasis on safety involving head injuries and heat acclimation as well as traditional knee and other injuries, there's a fine line between pushing teams far enough to hone a winning edge, and going too far.