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Last week, Elkhorn was met with extreme weather. It had a tremendous effect on people’s lives and led them to rethink how to deal with the severe weather that might return in the near future. According to the Shorenstein Center, this year’s July was the Earth’s hottest month on record, and this must not be taken lightly, as this indicates human-caused climate change.
In response to the heat, the Elkhorn Athletic director and coaches are taking extra precautions to ensure that no students or athletes suffer from this extreme weather.
“At Elkhorn High, I feel like our coaches do an excellent job of keeping player’s safety first and foremost in their thoughts,” says Mrs.Fjell, the athletic director.
This is shown through the actions of coaches and trainers. Starting this year, athletic trainers have started using special equipment to determine whether or not it is possible to practice.
“It takes in humidity, wind speed, solar radiation, and temperature, which pops out a number, and we use that to decide whether it’s possible to practice, ” says Ms. Russ, the athletic trainer.
She uses the charts and guidelines that NSAA provides along with her bulb to either call off practice or contact coaches that they’re good to go.
Another step athletic directors and coaches took to avoid the extreme weather is to adjust the practice time to early morning rather than late afternoon. Coach Feickert, the head coach of the Antler Football team, said
“We’ve been practicing in the morning, and instead of normal 2-hour practice, we cut it down to 1 hour and a half.”
There seems to be both positives and negatives to the morning practice. Coach Holtz, the tennis coach, mentioned that
“Early practice had benefits in the fact that we were done after school since students have that time off and get their homework done and more.”
However, Coach Feickert and Holtz mentioned that waking up early seemed challenging for some students and harmed their sleep cycles since they understand that not everyone can sleep around 9:00 due to homework and more. Some athletes at Elkhorn High reflected on the change with the weather Senior football player, Brayton Lee said,
“I prefer early practice because you don’t have practice after school and you can use your mind to study film”.
The heat can really affect student athletes in many different ways such as, early practices and getting to school on time.
Coaches, trainers, and even athletic directors emphasized the importance of drinking water throughout the day. Most students assume hydration is essential during practice, but it is more important to drink water frequently to keep your body hydrated. Coaches are making sure they stress this enough to the students.
Although it is impossible to control the weather, it is possible to prepare for extreme weather. All the athletic departments are always looking for improvements to their plan to ensure that students are in safe conditions when practicing, even in severe weather.
