MOBILE, Ala. — High school football returns this weekend, and teams across the Gulf Coast are finishing their final preparations before their first games of the season.
At St. Paul’s Episcopal School, that preparation means readying for both the opponent and the punishing August heat.
Head football coach Ham Barnett said hot conditions are nothing new for players who grow up and play football in Mobile.
“If you grew up in Mobile, Alabama, you understand that it is going to be hot, especially in August,” Barnett said. “We’ve got to get our kids acclimated because it’s going to be hot on Friday too.”
Barnett said the Saints have spent the summer getting used to practicing in the heat, but the program has also made adjustments to help players handle the conditions. One key change was shifting the schedule earlier.
“I mean, we’re acclimated and we’ve been in it all summer long,” Barnett said. “Something we’ve changed though, this summer we moved everything up an hour early, so we started at 7 a.m., and so that helped us a lot.”
He said last week was the team’s first week practicing in the afternoon after spending much of the summer working out earlier in the day.
“It was a little different, but you know when you’re outside all the time, you kind of get used to it,” Barnett said.
Safety measures remain a priority
Even with players acclimated to the heat, Barnett said safety precautions remain part of every practice. St. Paul’s has a full-time trainer, provides frequent water breaks and builds in rest time throughout practice. Ice baths are also ready in case a player becomes overheated.
“We have a trainer full time here as well. We get plenty of water breaks. There’s a lot of rest time during practice,” Barnett said. “And of course, if a kid gets overheated, which we have had happen in the past, then we have ice baths ready to go for them as well.”
Barnett said practices typically last around 90 minutes to an hour and 40 minutes, limiting how long players are outside at one time. He added that spending the summer outdoors means his athletes experience the heat differently than someone who stays inside most of the day.
“I think the normal citizen sits inside all day, and so we’re not going to do that. We’re going to be outside,” Barnett said. “We’ve been acclimated to it. We’re used to it, and people ask me all the time, ‘How do you do this when it’s so hot?’ Well, we do it all the time, and so we’re used to it.”
Still, being accustomed to the conditions does not mean coaches let their guard down, he said.
“Our kids are in really good shape right now, and I feel really comfortable about our training staff as well,” Barnett said. “And our coaches really do a great, great job of keeping their eye on the student athlete.”
With the season opening this weekend, Barnett said getting players used to the heat is also part of preparing them for what they may face on game night. For the Saints, he said, the heat is part of football on the Gulf Coast — and so is preparing for it.