Thursday, August 21, 2008
Published Wednesday, August 06, 2008 in Sports
Cougars adjust to heat in full gear
The Times-Herald
While the majority of students in Coweta County had to deal with the first day of school on Wednesday, the remainder had to the first day of something else.
After several days of limited activity, football players at East Coweta, Newnan and Northgate were able to hold practice in full gear for the first time since practice was allowed to begin last Friday in Georgia.
"It was tough on the first day in pads because it was also the first day of school," said Newnan head coach Robert Herring. "The kids spent the day in the air conditioning before coming out in the heat for practice. We try to get them acclimated to the heat and get used to playing in it."
Among those making sure the Cougars are able to handle the heat is athletic trainer James "Radar" Brantley who has a staff of student trainers as well as a number of items designed for safety.
"We are using six 20-gallon tanks this year that are filled with water instead of the bottles we used in the past," Brantley said. "We also use a lightning detector and we can monitor the heat if the players have to go inside."
During Wednesday's practice, the weather wasn't severe enough to warrant leaving the field and the session had few incidents due to weather.
In the preceding three-to-five days of practice, schools in Georgia were limited to shoulder pads, helmets and shorts before going to everything that will be worn in games during the season.
"It is a big difference doing that before we worked in full pads today. There wasn't any tackling when we started practice." Herring said. "The kids could only bump each other hard above the waist. Today we could tackle and work on some more plays and drills."
The Cougars will get a few more days of practice under their belts before they host the Whitewater Wildcats in a scrimmage next Friday at Drake Stadium.