Trainers call for end of two-a-day practices in first week of August

[bigdaddyblue]

Let me tell you a good one about kids and parents today...Last year during 2 a days a head coach from a 5A school called me and told me that a  players parent called him to see if they were still going to practice, because the weatherman said there was a heat advisory for the day...

[BLUEDOVE3]

Times sure have changed..Played in late 60's early 70's never had a break or drink of water..Don't ever remember of a kid passing out or reading about any that had died...Whats wrong with our kids today??????

TOO MUCH video time/tv

[KFDM COOP]

Is trainers’ report really a hot topic?

By Dave Rogers

Published June 21, 2009

Barbers Hill grad Dan Ray Hooks has been head coach at West Orange-Stark for 29 years and only 15 other Texans have coached more than his 261 high school victories.

So excuse the 70-year-old Hooks if he’s opinionated:

“Those trainers, they need to train, and we will do the coaching,†he said last week after the National Athletic Trainers Association put out a report recommending that high school football teams dispense with two-a-day practices during their first week of August workouts.

The NATA also recommended longer breaks between practices.

“It’s just another example of the wussification of America,†cried Houston sports radio talk show host Carl Dukes.

Really, it just tells me Thursday was a slow news day for the Associated Press in San Antonio, which covered the NATA’s annual meeting there.

Heat stroke is no joke.

Never has been. Never will be.

It’s just that most of the recommendations offered in the report are pretty much already in place in Texas, at least the parts of Texas I know about.

Believe me, the coaches and trainers I’ve dealt with have been for the last 20 years or so as concerned with and are as up-to-date on preventing heat illness as they can be.

Best I can tell, the days of coaches withholding water from their players are long gone.

And ... knock on wood, in the nearly 40 years I’ve been around high school football, I’ve never been around a team that had a player die from heat stroke or suffer any kind of life-threatening on-field injury.

(Never mind that every time the ball is snapped in a football game, it can be a life-threatening situation, depending on equipment, conditioning and just dumb luck. Let me knock on wood again.)

But still, kids die almost every year from heat stroke.

The NATA report says at least 39 football players across the country have died since 1995.

One is too many. Especially if it’s yours.

But like everything else nowadays with our wall-to-wall reporting, saturation coverage blows things out of proportion.

In the 10-15 years covered by this count, that averages out to about three football players a year dying of heat stroke in a country of more than 300 million people. And if my recollection is not too far off, I think there are about a million football players each year in high school alone.

“Is it really more prevalent? Or is it more advertised because it’s a hot topic?†Karen Barger, Sterling High’s head trainer, asked me when we talked about the NATA report Thursday.

No one can really tell you what the total of heat-related football deaths were in the 50s or 60s, because no organization monitored it like they can and do today.

Duke said kids today are “soft,†partly because they spend more of their summertime in air-conditioned buildings, standard equipment for most these days that was a luxury when most of the Baby Boomers were growing up.

Veteran coaches agree that as times have changed, so have their players – and not always for the best when it comes to handling the heat.

Whether it’s that lack of year-round “heat†conditioning, or whether it’s the increase of sun-reflecting concrete and air pollution that trap heat as folks migrate from the country to metropolises, it sure seems hotter these days.

And that makes an all-out effort to ward against overheating plenty important.

To me, it looks like such an effort is already in place – unless my experiences aren’t typical. Limiting football practices – which are already heavily regulated by this state and most others – could actually be harmful if it means sending kids into games unprepared.

And face it, life is full of risks. But how far are we willing to go to eliminate the risks?

After all, no one would ever die in a car wreck if we just eliminated all the cars.

[old doc]

As an old trainer the heat in August is has always been the number one problem for football.  Kids today do not get out and exercise like they did years ago.  The invention of AC has softened kids as well.  We didn't have AC until I was in Junior High.  So we were outside all day long.  The issue is that coaches and trainers need to work together to protect against the heat and acclimate the students to the heat.  The onlu way todo this is to get them in the heat.  What really bothers me is the coaches who come out and say the trainers basically need to mind their own business.  Well they were hired to take care of the athletes and help take the responsibility off of the coaches so they can coash.  I have always been fortunate to work with great coaches who really cared about the kids an worked with me to make sure they were well watered and watched.  The majority of caoches do an outstanding job at protecting their kids but there are a few who don't want ot listen to their trainers.  These guys are invaluable and can keep a coach out of hot water if something bad happens.  Believe me I would always tell my coaches that I had never lost a kid and I didn't want to start this year.  It was a good situation because they would ask me for ideas on conditioning.  That is what it is all about.  2 a days will never go away but we have a responibility to the parents to take care of their children.

[WOSgrad]

"This wasn't done for the convenience of coaches."

Someone can't expect a high school football coach to see this and not expect some sort of reaction from the coach.  That is about is inflammatory as you can get.  It makes it seem like the majority of coaches don't care about the condition of the kids.  As you stated, old doc, the opposite appears to be true.  So if NATA doesn't want to have barbs fired at them like the one Coach Hooks let loose, maybe they should muzzle the idiot who made the above quote.

[old doc]

Well the barbs that are thrown out at the NATA need to be thought through because they can make a coach really sound bad even though i know that that is not how he feels but it does sound bad.  The person who commented about trainers staying in their ACed offices really has no idea about trainers, because very few are in their office when a football prcatice is going on.  They are outside with the coaches watching not only the players but the coaches as well.  If you have ever had a student come down with any heat illness it doesn't matter what you have done to prevent it you didn't do enough.

[adminbaberuth]

I've known Coach Hooks for many years and when the local media has such a hot topic as this, they are going to seek Coach Hooks out because he will give you the most colorfull quote. Do I think he wishes he may have rephrased the answer, probably.

[old doc]

I totally agree since I have known Coach Hooks for a long time as well, but we know him and know how he feels truely about his players and would not do anything to hurt them, but there are some coaches who feel this way.  What the UIL should do is try to find a way to help the coaches work with there player during the summer months.  7 on 7 helps a great deal but there is little input from the coaches.  It does not really matter what type of spring off season you have if they do nothing during the summer they will not be in shape in August.  We are not here for the convenience of the coaches we are here for the kids.  If you had to wait until ideal conditions you might be waiting until October.