Raising Expectations for Managing Heat and Humidity
February 19, 2013
The MHSAA Representative Council is scheduled to vote on March 22, 2013, to approve a “Model Policy for Managing Heat and Humidity” that would appear in the 2013-14 MHSAA Handbook.
The policy, patterned after a mandatory policy of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, requires that temperature and humidity readings be taken at the site of activities 30 minutes before the start of the practice or competition and again 60 minutes after the start of that activity. The readings must be recorded in writing and kept in the files of school administration. Inexpensive devices may be used that automatically calculate the “heat index.”
If the heat index is below 95 degrees, only normal precautions are required. However, readings of 95 to 99 degrees and then 100 to 104 degrees require additional precautions; and all activity must be postponed or suspended if the heat index climbs above 104 degrees.
When the air temperature is below 80 degrees, there is no combination of heat and humidity that will result in need to curtail activity.
This is being proposed as a model policy for 2013-14. The MHSAA will monitor school districts’ acceptance of this policy or adoption of similar policies before considering a mandate of this or similar policies.
The model policy will be mandatory for MHSAA tournaments.
Glue and Grace
October 9, 2012
Recent events, obvious to you, caused me to return to an article the MHSAA published in August of 1999. Here it is again:
Three days after the tragedy at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, a retired athletic administrator whom I respect greatly and listened to intently, called me to say this:
“You have an opportunity to speak to student-athletes in this state and across the country. Talk to them about Littleton.”
This administrator wanted me to convey to athletes that they were not a part of the many and complex causes of the Columbine carnage, but they play a small part of the solution to help assure such craziness doesn’t occur closer to home.
The administrator was referencing some of the media reports that suggested the youthful killers took offense to the “jocks.” Valid or not, these suggestions provide another wake-up call for those who claim that school-sponsored sports are healthy for the participants, school and community.
As a result, part of my conversations with student-athletes this year and the heart of my message to team captains in 1999-00, will be this:
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Break down the walls, real or perceived, between the athletes of your schools and other students. Avoid cliques limited to team members or even athletes in general.
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When you walk the school halls and shopping malls, greet fellow students warmly, regardless of their involvement in school sports or other activities. Let them know that you know they exist.
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Become more sensitive to the needs of others, especially those who are different than you. Appreciate that while you may be more gifted in some things, other students are more gifted in other things. Show a genuine interest in those things.
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Understand that you are not the center of the universe. Accept that it is your role to serve others, and not the other way around.
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Don’t condescend, but concentrate on the rich worth of other people. Seek them out. Involve them. Enter into their worlds and invite them into yours until such time as it is difficult to recognize different worlds in your school and community.
I believe this goal for the interscholastic athletic program, embraced by every administrator, participant and parent, would help us: That every participant be involved in academic and non-academic matters, athletic and non-athletic activities, be a star in one thing and a substitute in another, be on stage and backstage, in solo and ensemble, experiencing both winning and losing.
A student involved in such an experience as this could not help but provide glue and grace to a student body.
No student-athlete anywhere is remotely responsible for the massacre in Littleton, Colorado. But student-athletes everywhere have an opportunity to be a small part of an environment that assures such a tragedy is not repeated where they live, study and play. Talk to them.