Weather concerns NATA

The National Athletic Trainers' Association released a report on Thursday calling for the elimination of two-a-day high school football practices during the first two weeks of August.

Coaches are being asked to cut down on practice time and increase breaks between practice during that time period, which has seen the most heat-related deaths.

"Things aren't going very well at the high school level.

We've had a couple very bad years," Douglas Casa, director of athletic training education at the University of Connecticut and co-author of the report for the Dallas-based association, told the Associated Press.

"This wasn't done for the convenience of coaches."

At least 39 football players across all levels have died from heat-related causes since 1995, and most of those deaths occurred in early August, according to Dr. Frederick Mueller, director of the National Center for Catastrophic Injury Research at the University of North Carolina.

Though Laredo athletic directors and coaches have yet to discuss this report, they believe they are already taking the necessary measures to protect their athletes.

"Obviously, student safety comes first," said UISD athletic director Bobby Cruz.

"I totally understand why they would call for something like this, especially in a region like ours where temperatures reach upwards of 105, 110.

"But our trainers and coaches are already very, very aware of this.

As of (Thursday), we have not discussed (the report), but we are always very mindful of the times that we practice and keeping kids hydrated before, during and after practice."

Texas laws already demand a minimum one-hour break between two-a-day practices, while the report calls for three hours of rest in between.

Additionally, it states that full-contact practices should not begin until the sixth day and that the second practice of the day for the first week should be a light walkthrough with no pads or helmets.

"We have this under control," LISD athletic director Rene Ramirez said.

"We practice very early in the morning or very late in the evening.

We've been able to take the necessary precautions and hydrate the kids.

Our three high schools have different practice times, but the coaches plan to finish by the time it's too hot or have the kids in the weight room then."

Added Cruz, "We make sure to schedule practices around the heat. It's something we take very seriously.

With some good scheduling and prior planning, these problems can be avoided."

Neither athletic director reported any heat-related issues with his district's football teams in recent years.

"We've been very fortunate," Ramirez said.

"We haven't had an incident with any of our kids.

We're accustomed to the heat; it's not abnormal for it to reach 113 degrees here.

The coaches are aware of that, and we never want the safety of our kids to come second to practice time."

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)