Deaths prompt heat policy

SAN ANTONIO -- New pre-season training guidelines will be issued today by the National Athletic Trainers' Association and a task force concerned about the deaths of high school athletes during the hottest days of summer. At its annual conference here, NATA will call for gradual heat acclimatization in all high school sports. "This high school policy is the first of its kind," says task force co-chair Douglas Casa, director of athletic training education at the University of Connecticut. Unlike colleges that follow procedures established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, high schools are guided by individual state policies. There are probably 30 different sets of guidelines in the 50 states, Casa says, and some states have none at all. "There are states where you could have three three-hour practices in full gear on the first day," he says. The NATA policy is designed to "slowly and incrementally increase the pressures an athlete is under." Twenty-nine prep football players have died from heat-related illnesses since 1995, according to the Annual Survey of Football Injury Research. There were four heatstroke deaths at the high school level and two at the college level in 2008. One of the most publicized was that of Max Gilpin, 15, offensive lineman for Pleasure Ridge Park High in Louisville. His parents have filed a civil lawsuit against the coach, David Jason Stinson. Stinson also faces reckless homicide charges in a criminal case to be tried Aug. 31. He has pleaded not guilty. According to reports in The (Louisville) Courier-Journal, statements gathered by police from bystanders watching the practice say the first-year coach withheld water at various times during the practice, a violation of state guidelines. The heat index hit 94 degrees when Max collapsed Aug. 20 during sprints. He was taken to the hospital with an internal body temperature of 107 degrees and died three days later of complications from heatstroke. Another teammate also collapsed and was released from the hospital after two days. Heatstroke is defined as the most serious heat illness by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can occur when the body's cooling system is overloaded and unable to control its own temperature. Symptoms include rapid pulse, no sweating, dizziness, high temperature (above 103), confusion and nausea. Highlights of the heat acclimatization program, which covers the initial 14 days of pre-season practice: *Each individual practice should last no more than three hours. *On Days 1 to 5, athletes can participate in only one daily practice. *During the first two days of sports requiring helmets or shoulder pads, a helmet should be the only protective equipment permitted. *On Days 3 to 5, only helmets and shoulder pads should be worn. *Beginning no earlier than Day 6 and continuing through Day 14, double-practice days must be followed by a single-practice day. The National Federation of State High School Associations supports the guidelines but has no authority to enforce them, says Bob Colgate, head of the federation's football rules committee. "The states have wanted to set their own guidelines," he says. "We applaud what NATA is trying to do. We'll share the information with the states." Meanwhile, Jefferson County Public Schools, which includes Pleasure Ridge Park, is requiring every potential athlete and a parent or guardian to attend a seminar addressing nutrition, supplements, drugs, heat and hydration this fall, says public information officer Lauren Roberts, and the state high school association will require all coaches to attend a medical symposium.