Post the weather daily in a visible, high-traffic area.
Making your athletes and coaches aware of the daily weather conditions is a crucial step in beating the heat. Coaches may decide to adjust practices based on their personal experiences with weather conditions, and athletes may choose to dress differently based on temperature and humidity. I post my weather data right over the scales where the teams weigh themselves in before getting dressed for practice - can't miss it there! If you don't have the time or desire to stand outside with your trusty old sling psychrometer before posting the weather, (honestly, who wants to anymore?) try one of these links. While websites won't give you exact results unless their equipment happens to be on your field, they're a good tool and speed up the process by quite a bit.
The Weather Channel
National Weather Service
Have an action plan in effect before the season starts.
Sit down with your coaches before you start two-a-days and plan out what you're going to do if the heat index reaches certain levels. Where I live, we are always in the "Caution" zone during two-a-days, so we take our normal precautions at that time. Once we pass out of the caution zone, we've established a yellow, orange, red rating system based on the heat index scale. Each color has it's own action and practice plan based on heat guidelines, for example in the "yellow" zone, we start practice in helmets only, and move to shells as it gets cooler as we practice in the evening.Change your practice times.
My school has switched to evening practices for the first time this year, and let me tell you - it's excellent! While the decision was made mostly based on work schedules and the like, we also took into account the Ohio weather and the steep drop in temperature we have most nights. Starting practice during one of the warmer parts of the day and practicing as it gets cooler has a huge advantage over practicing while it is getting hot - as your athletes heat up, the air is cooling down, decreasing your chances of having someone overheat!
Take longer breaks or shorten practices.
When the heat goes up, so should your water breaks and time between practices. As athletes sweat more, they will need more frequent trips to the water jug to prevent dehydration and heat illness. You can also change two two-hour practices with one break into three one-hour practices with two breaks. This allows you to more efficiently utilize practice time while keeping athletes safe and out of harm's way by allowing them more time to rest and cool down.
Don't go "full pads" if it's too hot.
As easy as this is, many coaches will complain about having to alter how much equipment their athletes are wearing at each practice because it changes what they're able to do during practice. The bottom line is that football equipment is heavy, hot, and doesn't breathe well. If it is above a certain temperature and humidity, it is not safe for athletes to be performing heavy drills in full padding, as they will be unable to cool themselves effectively. Practice can be changed from full pads to just shells, just helmets, or no equipment at all based on relative humidity, and altered as the day progresses.
Have the athletes bring extra dry clothes.
An athlete running around in sweat-soaked clothing isn't cooling their body effectively. Sweat cools your body by evaporating off of your skin, however it cannot do this if it is sopped into your clothing. Having athletes put on fresh socks and shirts between practices can help them cool themselves more effectively when they get back outside.
Wherever you're at, stay cool out there today! Northeast Ohio is standing at a balmy 93 degrees in the shade and 40% humidity - hot hot!
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