Area football teams' first opponent is heat

Football practice begins today for most area high school teams, but for many teams the official start of practice is a step back in their practice routine.

Most varsity players have been attending voluntary practices throughout the summer, but the N.C. High School Athletic Association requires all football players to have six days of conditioning at the start of the official season.

Players may have worn helmets and shoulder pads at summer workouts, but the shoulder pads come off today.

Today's practices will be in T-shirt, shorts and helmet. There will be no body-to-body contact, and actual practice time will not exceed two hours, although time to warm up and to take water breaks may push the on-the-field time to about three hours.

Water is expected to be plentiful.

"We'll have water available at every drill station," said Millbrook coach Clarence Inscore, whose Wildcats reached the state 4-AA semifinals in 2007. "In addition, we'll take mandatory five-minute breaks every 20 to 30 minutes, and we make them drink."

Most players will stay in T-shirts, shorts and helmets Saturday and Monday.

Shoulder pads will be added for the next three days of practices Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Although players can have no body-to-body contact until they have six days of conditioning, they can hit hand-held dummies, shields and blocking sleds.

Players cannot scrimmage until after three days of body-to-body contact.

The NCHSAA rules are intended to make sure all players -- not just the ones who have attended the voluntary summer workouts -- become acclimated before the start of hitting.

"There will be guys at practice on Friday who we haven't seen this summer," Inscore said. "There is a reason we take it a little slow at first."

Cary coach Ben Kolstad said the first day of practice isn't the first time that high school coaches have to be aware of the heat.

"We've been going at 8 a.m. for much of the summer," he said. "We try to get off the field before it gets extremely hot, but we need to practice to get the players acclimated."

The Chapel Hill Schools system will not allow Chapel Hill, East Chapel Hill or Carrboro to be on the field between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Chapel Hill coach Issac Marsh will call his group together at 6 p.m.

Part of the Tigers' practice time will be devoted to nutrients, particularly staying hydrated.

"We want them to drink lots of water," Marsh said. "There will be plenty of water here, but they need to drink lots of water before they get here."

Marsh stressed the players need to drink water, not simply fluids.

A few teams will have today's and Saturday's practices within a few hours.

Clayton opens practice at 6 p.m. and will start Saturday's practice at 12:01 a.m.

"The kids are excited about it," coach Gary Fowler said. "We'll have a meal together, and I'll have a chance to meet the parents. This is a fun way to start the season."

There were two heat-related deaths in the country among high school football players in 2007.

There were six total high school football-related deaths -- the two heat-related, two heart-related, one pulmonary and one unknown -- in 2007.

Twenty-five high school players have died from heat-related problems since 1995.