JENKS, Okla. — Football season is knocking on the door. Green Country programs are back on the field this week for fall camp. But this August looks a little different than years past. The OSSAA is posting new guidelines centered around what's called "Wet Bulb Globe Temperature." Schools like Bixby say they're altering their practice schedules to beat the heat.
"We're going to have to have a whole lot of practices in the morning," Bixby head football coach Loren Montgomery said. "But it does make you nervous because they're going to let us play at 7:00 in August when it's going to be extremely hot, and at some point, you've got to acclimate your guys to it."
Here's how it works. Schools now use this chart. If the wet bulb number reaches a certain level, practices for all outdoor sports, not just football, either become time restricted or completely shut down if it reaches the black.
In Jenks, head coach Adam Gaylor tells 2 News they've been forced to split their day up because of the wet bulb.
"We've had to do that before where we've had meetings and walkthrough, sent the kids home for dinner, and then come back at 7:00 pm and had practices that way," Gaylor said.
"Last year we had to do that a few times," Jenks sophomore offensive lineman Jamison Mobley added. "It's one of the things you can't control, so we get after it every day. It's a non-negotiable."
Another one of the adjustments being made to practice schedules is that schools can't do two-a-days until after the first week of practice. So at Jenks, they're doing what they call a walk-through without any pads or helmets on. It's all in an effort to get ready for a quickly approaching season with quickly rising temperatures.
"You know, we go early in the morning during the summer anyway, so it's not that big a deal," Gaylor said.
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