News Release – Ohio High School Athletic Association
Commissioner Daniel B. Ross, Ph.D.
Interim Commissioner Dave Gray
For Immediate Release – July 27, 2016
OHSAA Fall Sports Practices Get Underway Monday
Schools reminded of football practice guidelines and to take precautions in extreme heat conditions
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Summer conditioning programs and 10 days of coaching come to an end this weekend as the first official day of practice for all OHSAA fall sports arrives Monday, August 1. Schools are reminded of several precautionary measures to be taken, including practice guidelines specific to football.
OHSAA Fall Sports – Practices Begins Monday, August 1
Please see the specific sport pages at
www.OHSAA.org for preseason manuals, news releases, regulations, bulletins, rules changes, tournament information and state tournament coverage.
Sport – Date that Regular-Season Contests May Begin
- Cross Country – Aug. 22
- Field Hockey – Aug. 20
- Football – Aug. 22
- Golf – Aug. 5
- Soccer – Aug. 19
- Tennis (Girls) – Aug. 12
- Volleyball – Aug. 20
Emergency Action Plans: The Most Important Page in the Playbook
In August of 2015 the OHSAA sent each member school with a copy of the outstanding Emergency Action Plan, "Anyone Can Save a Life," a first-of-its kind program for after school practices and events. This program, which was developed by the Minnesota State High School League, has been made available to all schools in the United States through a generous grant from the Medtronic Foundation with distribution funded by the National Federation of State Associations (NFHS) Foundation. The Anyone Can Save A Life training DVD and website –
www.anyonecansavealife.org – along with the guide’s implementation instructions, handouts and forms have been prepared to help train coaches, advisors, students and event staff. In addition, there is an array of resources that cover all aspects of preparing and managing an effective emergency response program.
Football Notes and Practice Guidelines
Of the OHSAA’s 822 member high schools, 716 sponsor football teams. A total of 224 will qualify for the playoffs – 32 in each of seven divisions. The regular-season ends October 29, with final computer ratings posted October 30. Acclimatization Period: A five‐day acclimatization period is mandatory prior to any contact drills. Only helmets are permitted on the first and second days of practice. Shoulder pads may be added on days three and four. Full pads may be worn on the fifth day. Full contact is permitted on the sixth day. August 7 and 14 are mandatory days off.
Contact Regulations: The following regulations apply to individual student‐athletes. Position groups, etc., can alternate contact to adhere to the regulations listed below. Also, contact with soft equipment such as bags, shields, sleds, etc., does not count toward contact limitations.
Full Contact Limited During Two‐A‐Day Practices: When more than one practice takes place in a day, full contact is permitted only during one of the practices. With the importance of recovery time to help minimize concussion risks, consideration should also be given to the timing of full contact during the next day (i.e. if full contact occurs during session 2 of two‐a‐days, there should not be full contact in session 1 of two‐a‐days the following day).
Practice During the Season (after the first regular‐season game):
- Consider limiting full‐contact on consecutive days.
- A student‐athlete is limited to 30 minutes of full contact in practice per day.
- A student‐athlete is limited to 60 minutes of full contact in practice per week.
- A student‐athlete can be involved in full contact in a maximum of two practices in a seven‐day span.
Football Season and Playoff Notes
Playoff Schedule
During the playoffs, Divisions I, II, IV and VI will play on Friday nights at 7:30 p.m., while Divisions III, V and VII will play Saturday nights at 7 p.m.
- November 4 & 5 – Regional Quarterfinals
- November 11 & 12 – Regional Semifinals
- November 18 & 19 – Regional Finals
- November 25 & 26 – State Semifinals
- December 1-3 – State Finals, Ohio Stadium - Columbus
Additional Fall Sports News
Reminders for All Schools, Coaches and Student-Athletes
- All student-athletes must have a pre-participation physical: http://www.ohsaa.org/medicine/physicalform.htm
- All coaches, paid and volunteer, must be certified by the ODE: http://www.ohsaa.org/members/coachescorner.htm
- OHSAA inclement weather regulations: http://www.ohsaa.org/sports/OHSAAInclementWeatherPolicy.pdf
- OHSAA heat regulations: SEE BELOW
- Mandatory preseason parent meetings information: http://www.ohsaa.org/members/default.htm
- See the respective sport pages at www.OHSAA.org for online rules meetings, OHSAA sport regulations, OHSAA general sports regulations, preseason coaches manuals, etc.
Coach No-Contact Period
The month of August is a no-contact period for coaches in the sports of basketball, softball, baseball, ice hockey and lacrosse.
OHSAA Inclement Weather Policy and Heat Illness Information
With the start of fall sports, all schools are reminded to know the OHSAA’s inclement weather policy, which states that all outdoor activity must be halted for 30 minutes if lightning is seen or thunder is heard. Check out the complete policy at:
http://www.ohsaa.org/sports/OHSAAInclementWeatherPolicy.pdf
Heat Illness: The NFHS SMAC continues to encourage athletic trainers, coaches, players and parents to be vigilant about heat illness. The pre-season is the time of greatest risk. An important component of heat illness awareness and preparation is to have in place a well-rehearsed Emergency Action Plan. This includes protocols for treating heat illness, including strategies for rapid cooling of at-risk athletes and guidelines for practice/game modification when indicated by Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) monitoring. Coaches need to remain open and flexible to change practice and game plans if environmental conditions are such that their players are at risk for heat illness. This is especially true during the heat-acclimation period at the start of pre-season training.
This procedure is to be used until such time as the temperature is below 84 degrees as no combination of heat and humidity at that level will result in a need to curtail activity.
- Thirty minutes prior to the start of activity, temperature and humidity readings should be taken at the site.
- The temperature and humidity should be factored into the Heat Index Calculation and Chart and a determination made as to the Heat Index. If schools are utilizing a digital sling psychrometer that calculates the Heat Index, that number may be used to apply to the table.
- If a reading is determined whereby activity is to be decreased (above 95 degrees Heat Index), then rereadings would be required every thirty minutes to determine if further activity should be eliminated or preventative steps taken, or if an increased level of activity can resume.
- Using the following table, activity should be altered and/or eliminated based on this Heat Index as determined:
Under 95 degrees Heat Index—
- Optional water breaks every 30 minutes for 10 minutes in duration to allow hydration as a group.
- Have towels with ice for cooling of athletes as needed.
- Watch/monitor athletes carefully for necessary action.
- Re-check temperature and humidity every 30 minutes if temperature rises in order to monitor for increased Heat Index.
95 degrees to 99 degrees Heat Index—
- Water shall always be available and athletes shall be able to take in as much water as they desire.
- Mandatory water breaks every 30 minutes for 10 minutes in duration to allow for hydration as a group.
- Have towels with ice for cooling of athletes as needed.
- Watch/monitor athletes carefully for necessary action.
- Helmets and other equipment should be removed when athlete not directly involved with competition, drill or practice and it is not otherwise required by rule.
Notes: Reduce time of outside activity. Consider postponing practice to later in the day. Re-check temperature and humidity every 30 minutes to monitor for increased Heat Index.
100 degrees (above 99 degrees) to 104 degrees Heat Index—
- Water shall always be available and athletes shall be able to take in as much water as they desire.
- Mandatory water breaks every 30 minutes for 10 minutes in duration to allow hydration as a group.
- Have towels with ice for cooling of athletes as needed.
- Watch/monitor athletes carefully for necessary action.
- Alter uniform by removing items if possible and permissible by rules.
- Allow athletes to change to dry shirts and shorts at defined intervals.
- Reduce time of outside activity as well as indoor activity if air conditioning is unavailable.
- Postpone practice to later in day.
- If helmets or other protective requirement are required to be worn by rule or normal practice, suspend practice or competition immediately.
Note: Re-check temperature and humidity every 30 minutes to monitor for changes in Heat Index.
Above 104 degrees Heat Index—
- Stop all outside activity in practice and/or play, and stop all inside activity if air conditioning is unavailable.
### OHSAA ###
Tim Stried
Director of Communications
Ohio High School Athletic Association
Office: 614-267-2502, ext. 124
Fax: 614-267-1677
4080 Roselea Place
Columbus, OH 43214