Some area coaches, however, believe the NATA should mind its own business.
“I would like to ask them what study they have done that makes them think it would be better to do things differently,” Holland coach Ronny Allen said.
The NATA on Thursday released its “Preseason Heat-Acclimization Guidelines for Secondary School Athletics,” which outlined several reccomendations, including the elimination of two-a-days during the first week of August, a three-hour break between practices thereafter and no consecutive multi-practice days.
The national group, headquartered in Dallas, pointed to the death of a 15-year-old boy in Kentucky last August as a need for sweeping changes.
The University Interscholastic League - the governing body for Texas public school athletics - already has guidelines in place, such as no contact until the fifth day of practice and no workouts at all until the second week of August for Class 5A and 4A schools that went through spring drills.
Some coaches believe those guidelines are enough.
“Comparing Texas to other states is like apples to oranges,” Allen said. “Those other states don’t have the UIL and the guidelines that we have to follow.”
Texas High School Coaches Association executive director D.W. Rutledge told the that mandatory three-hour breaks between practices could actually force teams to work out during the hottest part of the day.
That would be the case at Cameron Yoe, where first-year Yoemen coach Rick Rhoads will follow the well-used blueprint of holding both practices in the morning.
“We’ll go from 8 to 12:30, but the actual field time will be about 3½ hours,” he said. “We’ll take some breaks to go inside in the air conditioning for meetings and other things.”
Academy uses a similar schedule, with practice from 7 to 9 a.m. followed by a 60-minute break and another hour of drills. A mandatory three-hour break would force the Bumblebees to come back when the temperature is higher or start their first practice in the heat.
According to Academy coach Royce McAdams, the time and length of practices aren’t as much of a factor as how the workouts are structured.
“Even if you only work out for 30 minutes, if you don’t give the kids a chance to rehydrate then you’ll have a problem,” he said. “Every 15 minutes we have a break, and we have a covered area built at the end of our practice field where kids can get in the shade to regroup and rehydrate.”
And as McAdams pointed out, there isn’t a need for student-athletes to acclimate to the heat if they stay in shape during the summer.
“It’s those who don’t do anything all summer that have the trouble,” he said. “Those that stay active are used to it."
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
