LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- Kristen Pollock, an athletic trainer at Central High School, uses a psychrometer every 30 minutes to monitor the temperature and humidity on a football practice field.
Before Central players practice, and every other high school player for that matter, it must be under 104 degrees heat index per Kentucky High School Athletic Association rules. Those rules also mandate water breaks and what equipment must be used in the heat.
Practices at Central and Pleasure Ridge Park were delayed more than an hour until after 7 p.m. Tuesday until temperatures reached a manageable point -- manageable being a sparse two degrees under the limit -- of 102 degrees heat index. It's too hot to practice in pads, and the fields at both schools are littered with coolers, sports drink bottles, and water lines for hydration. Central has a team of trainers. PRP relies on the coaches to monitor heat.
In fact, on Monday witnesses at a PRP practice say a player was overcome by the heat. A parent watching her 8-year-old son in Pee Wee practice who is also a nurse says the teen didn't eat before practice. The parent says the boy returned to the practice fields Tuesday but did not work out.
