6 tips to stay hydrated during the football season

Hot, humid weather greets early football practices in most parts of the United States. 

Heat preparedness has been a key focus at youth and high school football fields across the country as young athletes get acclimated to exercising outside. Those good habits need to continue as the regular season kicks off and the calendar gets deeper into the fall months.

A recent Q&A with Dr. Douglas Casa of the Korey Stringer Institute outlined proper heat preparedness during the summer months. Here are six more things coaches, players and parents can keep in mind this fall to prevent heat illness and dehydration:

• Continue to encourage water breaks. Even as temperatures drop, build practice schedules to incorporate water breaks every 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the weather. The hotter or more humid it is, the more often players should be directed toward re-hydrating. During games, when players come to the sideline between series, make sure the first thing they do is take a drink.
• Symptoms remain the same. Whether in July or October, the signs and symptoms of dehydration do not fluctuate, so keep an eye out for them: dry mouth, thirst, irritability, headache, dizziness, cramps, excessive fatigue and decreased performance.
• Never deny water. Water is not a reward, nor is withholding it a proper punishment. Never deny or discourage any athlete from drinking water or fluids to replace moisture lost from sweat.
• Take rests in the shade. If trees or other shady spots are available around the field, hold your water breaks, halftime talks and post-practice or postgame talks there. Those few degrees provided by a cooler spot can help decrease body temperature.
• Let them take their helmets off. Wearing a football helmet adds to thermal load and maintains a high internal body temperature. By removing helmets, body temperatures can decrease through evaporation of sweat from the head. Yes, young athletes who take their helmets off can lose them, so have the players hold their helmets on their hips while they wait to re-enter the game.
• Dehydration also occurs when it’s cold. Even when the temperatures fall toward freezing, players lose water through sweat and breath. It’s important to continue hydrating throughout those late-season games.