High school football heat acclimatization week begins

Football has a tragic history of players succumbing to the heat, some of them even losing their lives.

Faced with that stark reality, the sport has implemented rules and regulations to minimize the risks involved combining heavy football equipment with sweltering summer heat and humidity in many parts of the country.

In Pennsylvania, the PIAA continues to mandate what is commonly termed “heat acclimatization week.’’

Monday, Aug. 5, marked the first day teams could begin heat week in Pennsylvania.

On its website, the PIAA released Senior High Football Pre-Season Heat-Acclimatization Guidelines that state, in part:

“Practice or competition in hot and/or humid environmental conditions poses special problems for student-athletes. Heat illness is a primary concern in these conditions. Having a scripted practice plan with breaks from activity as well as scheduled hydration and cooling off periods will be of great assistance in preparing student-athletes for the football season. REMINDER: No student is eligible to participate in practices (including heat acclimatization), inter-school practices, scrimmages and/or contests unless the student has completed a comprehensive initial pre-participation physical evaluation (“CIPPE”) performed by an Authorized Medical Examiner.

“Acclimatization Period: All schools sponsoring high school football are required to institute a heat acclimatization program.  Heat acclimatization may begin no earlier than Monday or Tuesday (Aug. 5 or 6, 2024) for five consecutive days prior to the Monday starting date (Aug. 12, 2024) for the 2024 football season. If a school opts to institute heat acclimatization during this period, the intent is to have all members of the team be present and participate in all five consecutive days of the heat acclimatization period.

“A school must have five consecutive days of heat acclimatization prior to their first contact drills which may not be initiated before the first legal practice date of fall sports (Monday, Aug. 12, 2024). The practices for this week are limited to a 5-3-5-3-5 hours of practice daily for the five days of heat acclimatization. Practice sessions shall not be longer than 3 hours in length and teams must have at least 2 hours of rest (recovery period) between sessions. Days 1, 3 and 5 are limited to 5 hours of practice per day and Days 2 and 4 are limited to 3 hours of practice per day. … Helmets and shoulder pads with shorts are permitted the first five days of heat acclimatization. Full gear and contact shall be permitted no earlier than Monday, Aug. 12, after the completion of the five consecutive day heat acclimatization period.

“A school must satisfy the five consecutive days of heat acclimatization with helmets, shoulder pads, shorts, prior to their first legal practice with contact. … General conditioning provides only partial heat acclimatization. Therefore, student-athletes should be exposed gradually to hot and/or humid environmental conditions to provide better heat acclimatization. Each exposure should involve a gradual increase in the amount of exercise that is undertaken over a period of days to weeks until the exercise intensity and duration is comparable to that likely to occur in competition. If conditions are extreme, training or competition should be held during a cooler time of the day.’’

Following heat acclimatization and a week of practice in full pads, teams may scrimmage other schools Saturday, Aug. 17. Week 1 of the regular season is scheduled to be held Friday-Saturday, Aug. 23-24.