Keeping Athletes Cool | News

Once schools start back up, morning football practices are usually shifted to the afternoon during the heat of the day. So we highlighted the extra steps Chattahoochee High School is doing to keep their athletes safe in the heat.

"We give more breaks," head athletic trainer Tangela McCorkle points out. "You know we tend to want to keep our practices at an earlier time. Even when school starts when everyone is going to go to after school, we'll probably still maintain the morning practices throughout the month of August".

And that is key since the average afternoon temperature in August is 88 degrees. But the training begins even before the season starts.

"I think it's extremely important that we get the kids acclimated in June and July early before we get out here," says head coach Terry Crowder.

"The biggest thing is them taking care of themselves at home," mentions McCorkle. "Making sure they're hydrated. Hydration doesn't start the day before; it starts a week, two weeks prior to beginning. I just have great coaches, the coaches understand to stop".

But great coaches aren't everything; you also have to have a great trainer too.

"She knows that she's really the boss out here and when she tells me something, I'm gonna do it," a smiling Crowder amusingly explains.

"When I say stop, they stop," McCorkle clarifies. "The coaches get hot, they want drinks too, so they give the guys frequent water breaks, not just what's within the guidelines".

"In 4 or 5 years now she's never been wrong on one diagnosis and I think that that's really amazing," Crowder reveals.