Schools and MHSAA stress hydration in summer practices

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - In the heat of competition, it’s important to keep drinking water.

“When it’s brutally hot, it’s hard to keep their attention,” said Olivet football coach Brock Peters. “No one likes it, it’s uncomfortable, but it’s a chance to get better for sure.”

“Especially in that hot weather and humidity we preach hydration, and our trainer is on the kids about that, but so far we’ve handled it pretty well,” said Jackson Lumen Christi coach Herb Brogan.

Parma Western coach Nick Rulewicz agrees, preaching “...hydration, proper rest, good nutrition throughout the day, we’ve been practicing in the afternoons, and that’s one of the hotter parts of the day.”

Though the Michigan High School Athletic Association hasn’t seen a major incident involving heat in years, they’re still sure to send schools reminders every year.

Geoff Kimmerly says that those incidents are avoidable.

“You can see the heat coming off of these surfaces and the rules for all of them are the same,” he says.

Their model for managing heat and humidity includes detailed guidelines for what to do when the hear index reaches a certain level.

“As it goes up, you might want to change the time of the day or location, as it goes up even more, you might remove pieces of equipment, helmets, pads,” said Kimmerly. “Once the heat index reaches 105, we cease activity.”

Schools are following these guidelines.

Players are happy to take a break or two to refuel.

“We’re taking breaks with our helmets off every 30 minutes,” said Lumen Christi Senior Cooper Cumberworth.

It’s a discipline that needs to continue, even off the field.

Stay off the juices, super sugar, Gatorades, got to stay off that too, focus on Pedialyte, Body Armor, water...water is the most important thing though.”

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