The Sept. heat has gotten in the way of many sports teams’ practice schedules. From football to cross country, nearly all sports teams have had to reassign practices due to the heat.
According to OH Assistant Athletic Director Mark Johnson, OH uses a measurement called the “wet bulb” to determine the safety of athletes in the heat. The wet bulb accounts for “temperature… but then, what’s the humidity like, but also…shade, and [the] breeze,” Johnson said.
By accounting for these factors, OH athletic staff can make decisions on allowing athletes to practice outside after school if there is a risk of athlete health and safety. This usually results in sports teams rescheduling practices, or simply moving them inside as room allows.
OH senior cross country runner Ethan Emmick said, “[We] moved practice into the later hours of the day, 6-8, to get out of the sun.”
Emmick also shared that “it is not uncommon [for the football team] to practice in the field house,” as a solution for escaping the hot weather.
Many OH sports have made similar changes to their practices. Moving them to later in the day allows the temperature to cool down enough for it to be considered safe for athletes to train.
Other sports teams, such as cross country, have taken a similar approach to the heat. Running is a sport without breaks, timeouts, and halftimes, so the cross country programs are traditionally one that takes initiative early on.
“We started offering morning runs, so for hard workout days we would do our workouts on the track early” said OH senior Nathaniel Jimenez.
This allowed runners to get their training in before the heat and humidity outside reached its peak. Other OH programs have followed suit by moving their practices to before school.
“I love morning practices, because I think that running in the morning gets you woken up, it gets you cooler temperatures to run in, it also I feel like is just a really nice way for runners to wake up,” said girls cross country coach Alicia Rafferty.
Despite this, Rafferty also notes several obstacles that make morning practices difficult for athletes.
“I think the morning runs provide not as much sleep time, and especially with busy, busy high school athletes, waking up an hour earlier does affect that sleep,” she shared.
Rafferty also mentioned that when these athletes wish to shower after practices, before their school day, they meet another challenge. “Currently in the girls’ locker room, only one shower works, out of six. That is something that has really been affecting our team.”
Morning practices can be impractical for athletes, but they are often necessary when the weather prevents them from practicing safely after school. Most OH sports utilize early practices when that is the only time available to them.
“It’s nothing that [we’re] not used to,” Emmick said. “We practice in the summer and summer’s super hot all the time.”
As of later in September, the humidity and temp is to go down by about eight degrees according to The Weather Channel, making adaptions less necessary.
Hi! My name is Ben Herrera and I'm a Senior at Oswego High School. This is my first year on the 42Fifty staff, and I'm currently a Reporter. Additionally, I am involved with Oswego High School's cross country and track teams, as well as multiple honor societies. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
Hello there! I am Jonah McCoskey, and I am a junior at Oswego High School, located in Oswego, Illinois. This is my first year on the 42Fifty staff, and I am proud to call myself a Staff Reporter for this organization. I am also a member of the Cross Country (PDT) team, as well as a member of the Track team here at OHS. While this is my first year on the journalism team, I have a collection of previous English Credentials. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
