NATA's possible elimination of two-a-day's

The National Athletic Trainer's Association released a statement today concerning the future of two-a-day's in the month of August. According to the National Center for Catastrophic Injury Research since 1995 at least 39 football players across all levels have died from heat-related causes and most of those happened in August. The NATA's recommendations would include longer breaks between practices and more time for players to ease into contact drills, and said these recommendations mirror policies already in place at the Division I collegiate level. They also pointed to the death of a 15-year-old Kentucky boy last August after he collapsed on the first day of practice.

"Things aren't going very well at the high school level. We've had a couple of very bad years," said Douglas Casa, director of athletic training education at the University of Connecticut and co-author of the report for the Dallas-based association. "This wasn't done for the convenience of coaches."

Many of the proposals are stricter versions of rules already in place. In Florida, contact drills are prohibited during the first three days of practice. Under the recommendations by the athletic trainers association, teams shouldn't begin full contact until the sixth day of practice.

In Texas, schools must take a minimum one-hour break between practices during two-a-day's. The report released this afternoon would call for a minimum three-hour rest, and would limit the second practice of the day, during the first week to only a light walk-through without helmets or pads.

Click or copy the following link to download the "Preseason Heat-Acclimatization Guidlines for Secondary School Athletics"


Also, Hothead Technologies in Georgia unveiled a tiny sensor that can be placed inside the players helmets to monitor the players body temperature. However, at a cost of nearly $99 per helmet many school will likely not implement this technology.