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Athletes: Prepare to Beat the Heat
August 4, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Despite unseasonably cool temperatures this summer in Michigan, high school athletes should prepare for the heat that usually accompanies August and the beginning of Michigan High School Athletic Association fall practices as they kick off next week.
Each year, the MHSAA provides information to its member schools to help them prepare for hot weather practice and game conditions in the late summer and early fall. Football practice can begin August 11, followed by first practices for all other fall sports August 13.
The topic of heat-related injuries receives a lot of attention at this time of year, especially when deaths at the professional, collegiate and interscholastic levels of sport occur, and especially since they are preventable in most cases with the proper precautions. In football, data from the National Federation of State High School Associations shows that nationally 41 high school players died from heat stroke between 1995 and 2013.
Many MHSAA schools this fall are expected to again follow the MHSAA’s Model Policy for Managing Heat & Humidity that directs schools to monitor heat index prior to and during activity and recommends actions based on those readings.
Also this school year, for the first time, the MHSAA is requiring all assistant and subvarsity coaches at the high school level to complete the same rules and risk minimization meeting requirement as high school varsity head coaches, or, in the alternative, one of several online courses designated for this purpose on MHSAA.com.
“It’s not an accident that causes severe heat illness and death. It’s a lack of attention to what should’ve been taking place, a lack of preparation,” said John E. “Jack” Roberts, executive director of the MHSAA. “We’re trying to communicate to our constituents that if we make the precautions that we should, plan as we should, we will have none of these tragedies in school sports.”
The MHSAA Representative Council adopted in 2013 the Model Policy for Managing Heat & Humidity that, while not mandated for member schools, has been adopted by many at the local level. The plan directs schools to begin monitoring the heat index at the activity site once the air temperature reaches 80 degrees and provides recommendations when the heat index reaches certain points, including ceasing activities when it rises above 104 degrees.
The model policy is outlined in a number of places, including the publication Heat Ways, which is available for download from the MHSAA Website. Heat Ways not only provides the model policy, but addresses the need for proper acclimatization in hot weather.
Heat, hydration and acclimatization also are again focuses of the MHSAA’s required preseason rules meetings for coaches and officials. The online presentation discusses the need for good hydration in sports, regardless of the activity or time of year.
The Health & Safety Resources page of the MHSAA Website has a number of links to different publications and information and a free online presentation from the National Federation of State High School Associations. Visit MHSAA.com, click on “Schools” and then on “Health & Safety Resources” to find the information.
Roberts said the first days of formal practices in hot weather should be more for heat acclimatization than the conditioning of athletes, and that practices in such conditions need planning to become longer and more strenuous over a gradual progression of time.
He added schools also must consider moving practices to different times of day, different locations, or change practice plans to include different activities depending on the conditions.
“I think all schools need to prepare themselves in these ways,” Roberts said. “They need to educate participants, parents and coaches about proper hydration and the dangers of practicing and competing when the heat and humidity are too high.”
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UPDATE Meeting Series In 37th Year
September 15, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Michigan High School Athletic Association will conduct its 37th annual Update Meeting series in the coming weeks, and this year’s schedule will again offer in-service programming for athletic directors at six of the seven locations.
The Update series is annually attended by more than 800 school administrators. During the meetings, information about current MHSAA activities is disseminated, issues affecting interscholastic athletics are discussed, and attendees are surveyed on various topics. Six luncheon meetings are scheduled in the Lower Peninsula, and a morning meeting is scheduled for Marquette in the Upper Peninsula.
MHSAA Executive Director John E. "Jack" Roberts will address high school superintendents, principals, athletic directors and school board members on a variety of topics at these meetings. Update Meetings also provide school administrators an opportunity to ask questions and discuss any recent changes in the Association's rules and regulations.
This will be the 12th year for Athletic Director In-Service programs to take place in morning-long sessions prior to most of the Update Meetings. These workshops are designed to help prepare those administrators for the rigors of their jobs, and with the Update Meetings offer those in attendance an opportunity to meet with administrators from neighboring school districts with whom they normally are not able to have day-to-day contact.
The meeting in Frankenmuth on October 8 also will serve as the Annual Business Meeting for the MHSAA. Click for the registration form for Athletic Director In-Service and Update Meetings.
- Sept. 24 – Pine West, Kalamazoo (Noon – Preceded by AD In-Service at 8:30 a.m.)
- Sept. 29 – DeCarlo’s Center, Warren (Noon - Preceded by AD In-Service at 8:30 a.m.)
- Oct. 2 – Best Western Plus, Lansing (Noon – Preceded by AD In-Service at 8:30 a.m.)
- Oct. 6 – English Hills Country Club, Comstock Park (Noon – Preceded by AD In-Service at 8:30 a.m.)
- Oct. 8 – Zehnder's Restaurant, Frankenmuth (Noon – Preceded by AD In-Service at 8:30 a.m.)
- Oct. 13 – Otsego Club & Resort, Gaylord (Noon – Preceded by AD In-Service at 8:30 a.m.)
- Oct. 24 – Northern Michigan University Superior Dome, Marquette (10 a.m. – Upper Peninsula Athletic Directors Meeting)
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.