Reader comments
New prep policies prompted by deaths

The high school football coaches I know will not like these restrictions. The only way they will be abided by is if the UHSAA mandates them AND then adequately punishes programs that break the rules. And we all know what a poor job they do of that!

Since the UHSAA picks and chooses when/if they enforce their own rules and there is no consistency or fairness, these new guidelines run very little chance of taking hold in Utah. Even if they are best for the student athlete.

As a coach you have to have some common sense. First of all dont practice from noon to 5 at night. this is the haottest part of the day. Practice first thing in the morning then take aq long break and practice in the evening. This scheduling will eliminate a lot of heat problems. Next thing is that Utah is a lot different then Texas or Georgia. There is no humidity. Humidity plus the heat is what causes a lot of the problems.

For varsity football teams it probably should not be a problem to practice early and late in the day. Because they don't play games until 7:00 at night most of the time.

But as long as J.V. and Soph football games, and girls soccer games start at 3:30 or 4:00 in the after noon you must practice at that time.

If you don't and then you throw a player in a game during that time it will be a shock to the body, and that will be worse then controlled practices in the heat first.

There is no relation to what time of day you play and when you pratice. The two activities are not that closely related. our statement is so uninformed that it is strikes of sheer stupidity. Wake up morning and evening pratices ae the best for the kids. And it will protect them more in the long run. A long pratice in the July and August heat and a tough 2 hour game in the same time period are NOT the same thing. Use you head!