Heat not posing a problem
I caught the CBS Evening News tonight and got to see this interesting story about football teams practicing in the heat. It references Max Gilpin, the Kentucky high school player who died last year, in part sparking the TSSAA’s new heat policy.
| For more of the background on Max Gilpin’s death, check this story from the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal |
The policy’s been much talked about in the preseason and I’ve spent plenty of time talking to Alcoa trainer Peggy Bratt, both at practice and at Bell County (Ky.) in Week 0. Those heat sensors are pretty cool but Bratt, the Tornadoes trainer since 2000, seems to have heat management down to a science. In Week 0, several Bobcats went down in the second half to cramps, while Alcoa never had a problem.
Coach Gary Rankin told me in the preseason he lets Bratt handle all the heat-related stuff, giving his kids water whenever they ask for it.
Bratt swears by Gatorade and other sports drinks to keep her players hydrated, using a giant wooden oar to mix up coolers of the stuff. She talks to the team about staying hydrated during the week and before a game. For some, that means going four years without ever drinking a soda.
Sensors and expensive equipment are a neat tool, but its clear having a good, vigilant trainer can be just as effective.