Emporia State Athletics keeps safety when Kansas gets hot

The sun just doesn’t quit this time of year and with football and all fall sports starting up across the state, heat safety is always a concern. At Emporia State, they make sure they get their work in but take every precaution necessary to keep these hornets flying high.

“You know, you don’t start out too high with the intensity of what we do and on top of that we have plenty of water out there and availability to our training rooms. so if there is anything going on they can talk to somebody,” Head Strength and Conditioning coach Daniel Goodman said.

It’s a full staff effort to get every athlete ready to go for their next season, but this time of year, safety has to be right up there with the x’s and o’s.

“We definitely do make those adjustments and communicate with the coaches on you know today is going to be extremely hot let’s take an extra break during practice, five to ten minutes long, get everybody in the shade, push hydration at that time, or make arrangements to have practice earlier in the day or later in the day when its not that hot,” Assistant Athletic Trainer Erica Engelhaupt.

Heat isn’t new to college athletics, they have a plan in place.

“We follow the NCAA and NATA guidelines that are put out as far as bringing them out into the heat and exercising outdoors. and then we push a lot of hydration and recovery. Sleep also goes into that a lot, and then also proper nutrition,” Engelhaupt said.

Preparation is key, but certain athletes have greater restrictions in this weather.

“We’re aware of who sickle cell, who may have a heart issue, things like that, so if they start to show signs, I will pull those guys out. It’s not just making guys tough through it, it’s not like the old days where they’ll say you get water when you’re tired, I’m not gonna be the type of person to force them to go through something, we’re gonna slow it down a little bit and just kinda get full work in,” Goodman said.