MADEIRA, Ohio — With how hot it is, we've gotten questions from you about whether high school athletes should be practicing outside.
One email came from someone who said they were a concerned relative of a Bethel-Tate football player. They said that earlier this week, players were out scrimmaging at Madeira High School while the heat index was above 110 degrees.
We found the policy for high school athletes in Ohio in the OHSAA handbook.
To start, yes, Ohio high school football athletes are allowed to be practicing right now.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) recently expanded on 7-on-7 football competitions at any time prior to and after the season.
The photo below was sent to us by the concerned relative. It shows players without pads. However, helmets are allowed in these scrimmages. According to OHSAA's website, there's no tackling; rather, players use either flags or touch the ball carrier to end a play.
When it comes to temperature, OHSAA guidelines are based on what's called wet-bulb temperature. It's a combination of the temperature and humidity. OHSAA recommends that when the wet-bulb temperature is above 89.8 degrees, coaches should stop all outside activity.
An OHSAA spokesperson tells WCPO 9 News that that is only a recommendation and not a requirement.
OHSAA guidelines state that the wet-bulb temperature should be measured every half hour during practice.
Hear more about what the OHSAA recommends for high school athletes practicing in the heat in the video below:
We wanted to learn more about wet-bulb temperature, so we asked sports medicine specialist Dr. Marc Lubitz.
"Because of the moisture in the air, the sweating that we do is less effective, and so you become really rapidly dehydrated when temperatures, even as high as the high 80s and even in the low 90s, it can become dangerous pretty quickly," Lubitz said.
Lubitz said even though these players aren't exerting as much energy as in a normal practice, it still takes a toll in this weather.
"Playing football without pads definitely has less risk than playing with full pads, but you do a lot of evaporative cooling through your head, so the helmets impair that for sure," Lubitz said.
Lubitz said he has the following recommendations for players, coaches and parents:
- Stay hydrated throughout the day
- Schedule practice in the mornings or late evenings
- Understand how to recognize the symptoms of heat exhaustion
- Be flexible to stop practice if needed
"At a certain temperature, no matter how much you stay hydrated, after a prolonged heat exposure, your body can't cool itself down to a safe level," Lubitz said.
We reached out to both Bethel-Tate and Madeira High Schools to see if they've heard concerns from parents about practicing outside, but we didn't hear back.
We also looked at Kentucky's guidelines, and according to the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, if a heat index of 104 or higher is recorded, outdoor activities should be canceled.
