http://www.hometeamsonline.com/teams/Default.asp?u=MCHSIndians&s=football&t=c

 

 

Start drinking water NOW!

 

 

 

 

1. Drink 17-20 oz. (one water bottle) of liquid (water preferred) 2 hours BEFORE PRACTICE.

Don't try to catch up after you are dehydrated!!!

 

Take a bottle of water to school for before practice.

Avoid caffeine drinks!

 

By the time you are THIRSTY, you are already DEHYDRATED

 

2. Drink 20-24 oz of liquid (water or sports drink preferred) for every pound of body weight lost within two hours of practice. Avoid caffeine.

 

3. Eat a banana for breakfast or at lunch.

Fruits high in potassium (i. e. bananas, oranges) can help alleviate cramps and muscle soreness after workouts.

 

4. Dark Urine means dehydration! Urine that is pale yellow or clear in color indicates a good hydration level.

 

 

High-body-fat athletes can also have a harder time with exercise and can become dehydrated faster than lower-body-fat athletes working out under the same environmental conditions.

 

Know your body and the signs of dehydration.

Know what you need to do.

 

DEHYDRATION IS SERIOUS!

Wonder what these kids were doing the night before?

 

Did they eat breakfast?

All the facts should be known before any judgment is made.

 

Are all the facts ever known? What was the temperature at the time practice ended? On my back porch in the Maysville area, it got up to 107.8 that day. I posted it on my blog because that was the hottest I'd ever seen it get since I bought my house 6 years ago. One fact is known, 6 boys were treated at the hospital and others by the nurse at school. That's a huge number for one practice. I've never heard of that many at one practice and I'm 59 years old. Ultimately, the coaches are responsible for what happens in their practices. When you have numbers like this, somethings amiss.

The thing that kills me is that this could have been prevented. Everyone needs to be held accountable for this. The players: should have been better hydrated most likely. What kids don't understand is that you can't just hydrate before and during practice. They need to be steadily drinking water throughout the day. The trainers: should be preaching "hydration and nutrition gentlemen". The parents: should be making sure that their sons have proper hydration and nutrition. Many parents don't realize how dangerous it is for their sons to be out in that kind of heat without proper preparation. And finally the coaches: I could understand where one or two went down, but six? Come on man, somethings wrong when that many people are going down.

In this particular incident with 6 kids being sent to the hospital and others being treated by a school nurse I don't see how you could blame anyone but the the coaching staff and trainer(s).

 

I'm sure the KHSAA heat index scale doesn't have a built in formula accounting for the poor judgment of a coach or coaches. I guess some things really shouldn't be taken for granted.

It is interesting that KY has heat index mandates and Ohio does not.

 

It's interesting that NO OTHER state has heat index mandates.

I also do not want to rush to judgement. But it seems to me that we're missing something here.

 

Rowan County ain't the only place that's hot.

In these times, I am sure that this is happening nearly everywhere, but it bears repeating. Coaches and parents need to talk to their athletes and make them aware of proper hydration and signs of dehydration. Make sure you stress that high heat is no time to worry about not being tough enough or not being able to stick it out. If you feel the symptoms, talk to the trainer immediately.

A lot of the post in this thread remind me of a witch hunt.

Please quit automatically assuming it is always the coaches fault, unless you were at that practice you should not be so fast to judge.

Coaches are required to go to a seminar once every other year focused just on medical issues and heat related material. They are not going to sacrifice a kid and risk losing everything.

Like someone else said, coaches are not medical doctors.

Too much is expected of a coach from some people, I mean most teams have around a 1:15 coach/player ratio, so the coach is already disadvantaged with trying to deal with so many kids at once, they are expected to win, expected to treat and train players, expected to commit all hours year round to build a program at pennies to the hour and people get on here and automatically bash a coach.

Kids were not falling down and dying in the 60's, 70's, or 80's. Because kids played outside and didn't play video games all day in the air conditioner while eating chips and drinking a case of mountain dew.

However, not all the heat related issues can be blamed on the above, but it certainly doesn't help.

I will admit my bias up front by saying that Shadon Brown is a good friend of mine. From my perspective, the most important issue/point here is that the staff had an emergency action plan, they implemented it, and the kids are or will be ok. We almost lost a young man one night at Paris - the fear that night while he was in surgery I can't begin to describe. If you are going to be a football coach for any extended period of time, most of us are going to have some of these moments and they make you think about "do I really want to keep doing this?"

 

We tend to minimize or forget the risks that are involved in football but they are real and significant- read the warning label on your helmet. I still say the kids are safer with us on the field than what they would be in to elsewhere. And, the benefit and experience of playing HS football is great, and the chances of the worst case scenarios are slim, but some times those moments do occur and the key is handling them the best way possible- but even then there are no guarantees.

 

I want what is best for my children and I definitely want my sons to play football and have those experiences. My son got sick during his first day of practice in pads(very hot morning) in MS and his coaches took care of him- I trust his coaches. I would have absolutely no problems whatsoever in having my son play for Coach Shadon Brown and trust Shadon 100% to look out for him and protect him.

 

To me, the bottom line is the coaches had a plan and the kids will be ok, and for that I am thankful. Sadly, sometimes the best plans and preparation do not always prevent a tragedy. I am thankful this was not one of those times.

 

I didn't have to post this but I did so to defend Coach Brown.

 

Thank you-

David Buchanan

Mason County HS

I will admit my bias up front by saying that Shadon Brown is a good friend of mine. From my perspective, the most important issue/point here is that the staff had an emergency action plan, they implemented it, and the kids are or will be ok. We almost lost a young man one night at Paris - the fear that night while he was in surgery I can't begin to describe. If you are going to be a football coach for any extended period of time, most of us are going to have some of these moments and they make you think about "do I really want to keep doing this?"

 

We tend to minimize or forget the risks that are involved in football but they are real and significant- read the warning label on your helmet. I still say the kids are safer with us on the field than what they would be in to elsewhere. And, the benefit and experience of playing HS football is great, and the chances of the worst case scenarios are slim, but some times those moments do occur and the key is handling them the best way possible- but even then there are no guarantees.

 

I want what is best for my children and I definitely want my sons to play football and have those experiences. My son got sick during his first day of practice in pads(very hot morning) in MS and his coaches took care of him- I trust his coaches. I would have absolutely no problems whatsoever in having my son play for Coach Shadon Brown and trust Shadon 100% to look out for him and protect him.

 

To me, the bottom line is the coaches had a plan and the kids will be ok, and for that I am thankful. Sadly, sometimes the best plans and preparation do not always prevent a tragedy. I am thankful this was not one of those times.

 

I didn't have to post this but I did so to defend Coach Brown.

 

Thank you-

David Buchanan

Mason County HS

 

Good post Coach. I agree.

This is an excellent ending point.

 

If someone would like to start another thread addressing the issue of the heat and what we can all do about it to be as safe as possible that would be ideal.