At the schools: Heat is on to provide safety on playing fields

Mother Nature did everyone a favor with reasonable temperatures for the opening week of football. The early forecast for this week’s opening of the rest of fall sports looks like it will be a little warmer, with temperatures in the mid-80s.

The heat can lead to dangerous situations and is something everyone involved in high school athletics needs to be aware of. Hydration is something that should be taking place before, during and after workouts, and understanding the difference between being tired and potentially suffering from heat stroke is important.

Some schools will have a new weapon to help battle the elements.

The Rhode Island Interscholastic League secured a grant and received 27 Kestral 5400 Heat Stress Tracker — Wet Bulb Globe Thermometers, which were distributed to member schools after a random drawing.

What does the thermometer do? In short, it provides a more accurate way to measure temperatures and the kind of stress the weather can put on athletes. It provides real-time feedback and warns that weather conditions have low, moderate, high or extreme risks.

The schools that won the random drawing and will have access to the thermometer are Barrington, Bay View, Burrillville, Central, Chariho, Classical, Cranston East, Coventry, Cumberland, East Greenwich, East Providence, Exeter-West Greenwich, Juanita Sanchez, Lincoln, Mt. Hope, Middletown, Moses Brown, North Kingstown, North Providence, Pilgrim, Portsmouth, Ponaganset, Prout, Smithfield, South Kingstown, Tiverton and Toll Gate.

Virtual sports coming to Central

Central has won titles on the athletic fields in recent years and now hopes to add some hardware in a new sport.

The Providence Public Schools announced that Central would be adding an Esports team this fall.

The RIIL added Esports — video games — in fall 2018 and has held regular season and championship play since with team-based games such as League of Legends, Rocket League and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Central was able to fund its program with money from various sources, including a STEM Mini-Grant from the U.S. Department of Education, ESSER funds and a $10,000 grant secured by a group of local politicians led by state Rep. Anastasia Williams.

“This exciting opportunity for our students at Central High School is a shining example of Rhode Island’s dedication to innovative and engaging STEAM education,” the state education commissioner, Angelica Infante-Green, said in the press release. “By thinking outside the box, we are providing students opportunities to learn, grow and thrive in rapidly growing career fields.

“We look forward to watching the program’s success and working in partnership to develop more unique STEAM opportunities in Providence Public Schools and beyond.”

The team at Central will be coached by math teacher Dan Lyttle. The release stated 14 students have expressed interest in joining the team this fall and more are expected once school begins.

Friday night lights

Streaming games is nothing new in Rhode Island, especially after COVID, but a Cranston-based company is stepping up its game even more this year.

The Fans Only Sportz Network has been around for a while but really took off once COVID hit. Unlike the NFHS Network, used by a majority of high schools, Fans Only provides consistent play-by-play on every game it broadcasts.

This is good news for Central and La Salle football fans. Recently, Fans Only posted it would be streaming both schools’ home games this fall, providing a professional touch for two of the best teams in Rhode Island.

While the RIIL has a contract with NFHS, over the years the coverage provided by the streaming service has been lacking. There was no play-by-play for some of the lower division title games in some sports and the track community was less than thrilled with NFHS’s coverage of larger meets.

The RIIL would be wise to reconsider this when the NFHS deal is up. Local companies like Fans Only and Ocean State Running do a tremendous job and it’s not hard to see they actually care about the product they put out.

While NFHS does employ some locals on the broadcast — Cumberland athletic director Marty Crowley does a tremendous job — there are too many events with out-of-state broadcasters doing games with no clue about the players or teams they’re talking about.

Brandyn Durand update

Last week in this space, I told you about former Hendricken All-Stater Brandyn Durand's Instagram post announcing he was decommitting from the University of Kentucky to play at Chipola College, a JUCO program in Florida.

Durand’s post didn’t mention why, but the day after the story ran, he reached out to The Journal to clear the air.

Playing this summer for the Utica Blue Sox, an elite amateur baseball team that plays in a collegiate wood bat league in New York, Durand said he suffered a torn labrum and rotator cuff in his left shoulder.

The injury required surgery and had a six-month recovery time, which would have left Durand unable to play for Kentucky in the spring.

If everything goes well, Durand will spend one year at Chipola, then go through the recruitment process again to find a home at a four-year college. There’s also a chance Durand could find himself drafted in the 2023 MLB Amateur Draft, but his first focus will be getting healthy and then getting back on the field.

La Salle ace makes college call

Patrick Jones is an up-and-coming star for the La Salle baseball team and now will be able to keep his focus on the field and not on what his future may hold.

The rising junior took to Instagram last week to post about his college future, verbally committing to pitch and play at the University of Maine after graduation in 2024.

Jones is a 6-foot-2-inch, 200-pound left-hander who had a solid sophomore campaign for the Rams. According to stats posted on MaxPreps, Jones finished the year at 5-1 with a 1.41 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 39.2 innings.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: The heat is on for schools to ensure safety on playing fields