FROM THE BLEACHERS-773
By Dr. Jack Welch
Respect the Heat
As fall sports practices begin, one opponent deserves as much attention as the team on the other sideline, extreme heat.
Exertional heat exhaustion and other heat-related illnesses are serious conditions that place athletes at risk every year. Fortunately, most heat emergencies are preventable through preparation, common sense, and a commitment to athlete safety.
Hydration must be a priority, not an afterthought. Athletes should have unlimited access to water before, during, and after practice. In football, water and ice buckets should be positioned around the practice field, not just on the sideline. A canopy should be available to provide shade during breaks, and the athletic training room should have an ice whirlpool or cold-water immersion tub ready in case of an emergency.
Practice schedules also matter. Conditioning should be conducted early in the workout while athletes are fresh or during the cooler hours of the morning or evening. Athletes need time to gradually acclimatize to the heat. The body adjusts over time, but only when that adjustment is allowed to occur safely.
Fifty years ago, many young people spent their summers hauling hay, mowing lawns, riding bicycles, and playing baseball until dark. Those activities naturally prepared them for the physical demands and heat of fall sports. Today’s athletes often spend far more time indoors with electronic devices, arriving at preseason practice less conditioned and far less prepared for prolonged heat exposure.
Heat exhaustion can quickly progress to heat stroke, a life-threatening medical emergency. No practice, conditioning drill, or game is worth risking the life of a young athlete. The best coaches understand that protecting their players is always more important than winning the next contest.
Conditioning is a process, not an event. Coaches should gradually prepare their teams for the season over time, allowing athletes to safely acclimate to the heat and physical demands of practice. Championships are never won on the first day of practice, but a season can certainly be lost if proper precautions are ignored.
Thought for the Week: “The greatest victory a coach can earn is sending every athlete home healthy enough to compete another day.” — Jack Welch
Dr. Jack Welch serves as President of Fort Scott Community College. With a career spanning professional sports, public education, and rural community development, he brings a servant-leader mindset and a passion for building trust-driven cultures that empower people to thrive in the classroom, on the field, and in life. He is also the author of Foundations of Coaching: The Total Coaching Manual.
