High school sports heat up: How athletes, coaches combat triple digits.

Being involved with a high school sport is difficult enough, as players have to balance schoolwork and life with athletics, and coaches have to develop their athletes while ensuring safety and scheduling games and practices among various other duties. Now, coaches and players have to deal with a variable that isn't under their control, the extreme heatwave taking place across California where temperatures were as high as 116 degrees Tuesday. Some worry about the potential for heat-related illnesses with temperatures that high. The California Interscholastic Federation recommends using a heat index tool for determining the safety of a sports activity. According to the National Weather Service heat index chart, the Placer County area is currently in the orange tier this week, indicating a moderate risk for those sensitive to heat. The index measures how hot it feels when relative humidity is factored in with temperature. Temperatures reached the red tier, indicating extreme danger, Saturday during the Placer Jr. Hillmen football games. A parent measured the field temperature at a scorching 130 degrees during the 14U game Saturday afternoon. "Athletes with heat illness risk factors should be closely supervised during strenuous activities in hot or humid climates," the CIF website states. With that in mind, multiple high school coaches from the area are having to modify or cancel practices. "We have been actually going indoors for these extreme temperatures, so we have been going into our weight room instead to do practices," said Jonathan Owens, the tennis coach at West Park High School. "We have made the most of it, though. The girls have shown flexibility and resilience. Thankfully, area coaches understand the circumstances so we have been able to reschedule matches to days that are cooler to keep our athletes safe." Placer tennis has moved practices to 6:30 a.m. in hopes of combating the heat. "Some matches have been shortened as well as practices," Placer tennis coach Tom Isaac said. "Some practices and matches have been canceled as well. We have put shade structures on courts during matches to keep players out of the sun." Tennis isn't the only sport changing surfaces. Placer, like many schools in the area, has a turf field on campus. The downside to turf in the summertime is surface temperatures can range from 20 to 50 degrees hotter than natural grass. It can be uncomfortable when the temperature hits the 90s, but in triple-digit heat like this week, it can become unbearable and dangerous. "Anytime it's, you know, above 95 degrees, we tend to move over to the grass anyway," Placer football coach Joey Montoya said. "We have to make adjustments and make the most of it. We practiced before school Tuesday. We might do it another day this week." Other sports impacted by the extreme heat include cross country and girls golf. Football has already had to deal with changing schedules due to a referee shortage. Multiple teams are practicing without pads during the heatwave or have moved practices to the morning. Rocklin High, for example, moved its game last Saturday against Capital Christian from the evening to 10 a.m. to ensure cooler weather for the athletes. "We were looking at the time late last weekend and when we saw it was going to be 108 degrees, we realized it wouldn't be safe," Rocklin football coach Jason Adams said. "We looked at that and wanted to get the game in and wanted to move it to the morning dramatically cooler." One of the most important things with this current heatwave is ensuring the hydration of all athletes. "We constantly remind the kids to hydrate before practice and then throughout the day after practice," Granite Bay cross country coach Jeff Adkins said. "Hydration during practice should only be a small part of their hydration routine. The athletes have adapted pretty well; we have not had any incidents of heat illness or cramping yet. Any athlete that looks like they might be overheating or complains of being hot will immediately walk or rest in shaded areas and drink water." Some coaches have moved practices to the morning for the duration of the heatwave, and while it allows the athletes to get their work in, it doesn't fully prepare them for the weather when it's time to compete. "We do need our athletes to adjust to the heat since many of our races are in the afternoon," Colfax cross country coach Shana Brown said. "This heat is just too taxing, and thankfully, we live where it's a little bit cooler." Colfax is in a tough situation, especially since many of its shady routes it used to keep runners out of the sun were destroyed in the River Fire in August 2021. "We stress hydration throughout the day because just living in this heat adds stress to the body," Brown said. "When we run in the heat, a parent drives water on the route. If we see any sign of heat-related stress, we cut practice short for that athlete and have them find air conditioning." While modifications are being made in multiple sports, some athletes don't mind the extreme temperatures and even view it as beneficial. "The heat does play a bit of a factor, but I believe it's making me a stronger and fitter runner," said Jaden Trujillo, Lincoln High senior cross-country runner. "I drink a lot of water and come in mentally ready to go, accepting the fact it's going to be hot. The heat ain't so bad once you get used to it, you just have to suck it up." Some coaches are also in the mindset that while the heat is a factor, it is something that they have to adapt to as well as the players. "At the end of the day, these kids are so acclimated to the heat. We take in plenty of water and make sure the kids are hydrated," said Montoya. "We're going to adjust as coaches. It's not the first heat wave we've ever faced. We've made a couple scheduling changes, just to, you know, optimize the best time of the day for the kids and make sure our kids are in a safe place." Some programs haven't needed to change a single thing about their scheduling. Vista del Lago football practices every day at 5:45 a.m., it always has under head coach Kyle Landes. "I started it full time when I took over last year, there's always some moaning and groaning in the summer but they get used to it pretty quickly," said Landes. ""I think the payoff for both coaches and players is much better. There are very few dentist appointments and tutoring sessions that early and it allows everyone to spend more time with their family. Attendance went through the roof." Landes also added that even though his team practices early, he found that it doesn't affect the Eagles during games in the hotter months of the season. "We stress proper nutrition and hydration to our guys," said Landes. "We haven't really seen too much of a drop off during the hotter games." Gold Country Media reporter Matt Long contributed to this story.