Metro-east high schools manage heat, IHSA restrictions to prep for fall sports season
As temperatures and humidity soar across much of the Midwest, metro-east high school sports programs are taking measures to protect their student athletes.
According to the National Weather Service St. Louis office forecast, triple-digit temperatures and record dew points are adding up to dangerous heat indices through Friday. Metro-east high school athletic directors already have rescheduled games, including those set to kickoff the new football season Friday night.
In the meantime, coaches have altered practice schedules and locations to keep their athletes out of harm’s way.
“As an athletic director and certified athletic trainer, student safety is always my No. 1 priority,” said Edwardsville High School Athletic Director Amy Boscolo. “Our kids cannot be successful if we’re not safe.”
Fall sports in Illinois include football, boys’ soccer, cross country, girls’ tennis, girls’ volleyball, golf and girls’ swimming. Adjustments to schedules prioritize varsity sports, the athletic directors.
The Illinois High School Association has advised its member schools to adhere to the bylaws and policy for excessive heat. That includes using the “Wet-Bulb Globe Thermometer,” or WBGT, to determine when and when not to practice or compete outdoors.
The WBGT factors temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle and cloud cover and triggers certain IHSA restrictions for both practices and games. The guidelines
Temperatures below 80 degrees do not call for restrictions
Between 80-84.5 degrees, discretion is needed for intense and prolonged exercises, as well as frequent water breaks each hour
Between 84.6-87.5 degrees, practice time is a maximum two hours length, football players are restricted to helmet, shoulder pads, and shorts during practice. There must be 20 minutes of rest breaks distributed throughout each hour of practice.
Between 87.6 - 89.9 degrees, maximum practice time is one hour. For football, players cannot wear protective equipment during practice, and there may be no conditioning activities. For all sports, there must be 20 min of rest breaks distributed throughout the hour of practice.
90 degrees or higher calls for cancellations, delays/and or reschedules of outdoor activities
Restricted practice times can be problematic, especially this early in the season. The IHSA requires that football programs practice a minimum of 12 times for 90 minutes, before athletes are eligible to compete.
Belleville Township High School District 201’s Center for Academic and Vocational Excellence, or CAVE, has been used by both East and West’s athletic programs to keep season preparation going forward.
“The CAVE has been great to work with between East and West and using that facility,” said Belleville East AD Mark Larsen. “For instance, our volleyball program has just incorporated our freshman team into the varsity and junior varsity practice.”
Formerly the Kings Point Sports Club, the CAVE still provides students access to indoor tennis courts, an indoor turf practice field, batting cages, a dance studio, and a golf simulator.
The facility, opened less than a year, has come in handy since the gym floor at the Belleville East campus is currently being replaced, leaving only training space in the adjacent gym annex. East football coach Michael Harrison said The CAVE has been “extremely helpful.”
“Kudos to the administration for giving us this facility,” he said.
Certified athletic trainers on staff at District 201 also have been instrumental in helping coaches modify their training schedules.
“We are very lucky to have two athletic trainers who are well-versed in what the athletes can and cannot do, along with modifications that need to be enacted for the programs,” Larsen said. “Aaron (Kremmel) and Stephanie (Brewer) do a phenomenal job of not only keeping our coaches up to speed on what modifications need to happen, they’re the ones out there providing those cooling stations and medical emergency needs there.”
Edwardsville High School football was scheduled to kickoff its season at home against Jackson (Missouri) on Friday at 7 p.m. That game has since been moved to 8 p.m.
In the meantime, Boscolo says Edwardsville coaches have been taking precautions against the extreme heat for weeks.
“We put priorities towards our varsity programs and our extracurricular activities that are getting ready to compete,” she said. “They will move to the indoor spaces and fill those.”
She says she also has spoken to coaches about making food with high water content – like watermelon, cantaloupe and frozen grapes – available to their athletes.
