Hopkins Coaches Guard Against Heat Injuries

While sports teams like to heat up the playing field, cooling down is more of a priority when practicing during the summer.

Practice for fall sports began Monday, and heat injuries are on the forefront of many coaches’ minds because of the deaths of several high school football players in the South this summer.

Hopkins football Coach John DenHartog said he and his staff are doing everything necessary to keep their athletes safe in a sport that has never forgotten Vikings player Korey Stringer, who died of heat stroke in 2001.

“There are protocols about heat and humidity and when you can practice, and we follow those closely. Also, when it gets hot we practice without the pads,” DenHartog said.

Girls cross country Coach Anne Sateren said she and the other coaches are making concerted efforts to prevent sickness in their runners.

“During and after workouts, we have the kids monitor their heart rates. It’s just a good way for each kid to keep tabs on themselves in the course of a practice,” Sateren said.

Both coaches stressed that athletes and coaches are well educated about heat injuries and how to prevent them.

“Just in my experience, I’ve only had a handful of times where a kid has become sick because of the heat,” said Sateren. “Usually kids are good at monitoring themselves and that awareness helps them become better prepared for the heat.”

Said DenHartog: “I think in the Midwest it’s not as common as in other places. It seems like coaches are more knowledgeable and they can maintain that balance between being safe and being competitive.”

The importance of that awareness shouldn’t be understated. A 2010 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that heat illnesses were a leading cause of death among high school athletes between 2005 and 2009.

As practice begins for another fall sports season, coaches and players alike aren’t overlooking the importance of taking time to cool off.