New heat restrictions invoked for SC high school athletes

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By Gina Esposito

FORT MILL, S.C. — There are new heat restrictions for high school athletes in South Carolina.

Athletic trainers have to follow specific guidelines when there are concerns about the heat during practice outside.

[RELATED: Atrium Health program provides student-athletes with free screenings]

Practice started Friday for South Carolina high school football players.

Senior Jacob Kendall, a senior linebacker at Fort Mill High School, said sometimes his teammates have struggled to make it through practice.

"It’s definitely hot,” Kendall said. “A lot of times there were people throwing up because it’s so hot.”

In the past, coaches and athletic trainers would look at the temperature and heat index when deciding whether to delay or cancel practices.

There are new state requirements that require more.

Each team's athletic trainer will monitor solar radiation, the wind, air temperature and humidity through a device called a wet bulb globe thermometer.

The device considers all those factors and then comes up with a number. The number will determine if athletic trainers have to take any steps to keep kids safe.

Athletic trainers must take action when readings are between 82 and 92.1. They must tell players to remove layers of clothing, restrict practice to one or two hours, change the number and length of breaks and remind trainers to look for heat-related signs in at-risk players.

"Typically, I take a measuring point every 15 to 30 minutes,” said Molly Harris, who is with Atrium Health and also is the athletic trainer at Fort Mill High School.

Harris said she walks to the center of the field to get accurate readings.

She added the school's field poses a challenge since artificial turf is hotter than grass and the stadium is in a tunnel, so it traps heat.

Harris believes the extra effort she is required to take during practices will pay off.

"It will definitely keep kids safe,” Harris said.

In a few weeks, players will start practicing in the afternoons when temperatures will be much warmer.

The device will also be used during high school football games as well as other outdoor sports.

If the reading is high, it won't necessarily cancel games, but could delay them.

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