The TSSAA is adding guidelines for football practice, and the result is an updated standard in player safety.
The state office detailed its tweaks during a series of mandated meetings with football coaches across the state this week.
“It’s a rule, you can get 30 minutes of contact for each player every so many days a week during the regular season,”Alcoa coach Gary Rankin said on Thursday. “But if you’re smart about it and organized, it’s not a big change. We’re going to have to monitor practice a little more.
“In the preseason, you can still hit about as much as you want. Whichis fair enough. I thought the TSSAA did a good job with it.”
Under the new policy, teams may hold up to three full-contact practices per week during the regular season and playoffs, but not on three consecutive days, and players are limited to 30 minutes of full contact per day.
The TSSAA also mandated that if multiple practices occur on a single day, only one session may include full contact. Additionally, a singlepractice in pads is limited to three hours, and total practice time in pads may not exceed five hours. Practices on the same day must be separated by three hours of rest in a cool environment.
Players also are prevented from participating in multiple practices in pads on consecutive days, though helmets may be worn at any time.
“My question going in, if I’m running my firstteam drills, is that considered going full speedwith my second team even if they aren’t in?” Fulton coach Rob Black said. “ It’s not. Really, I could do ones versus ones and twos vs. twos for 30 minutes apiece, and still be within that 30-minute rule.”
The tweaks were recommended to the TSSAA by the National Federation of State High School Associations, which writes the rules for most high school sports. It comes during a time when concerns overplayer safety, including concussions and heat acclimation, are frequent at all levels of football.
“A little more organization,” Rankin said. “You’ll be accountable for your time and your time limits on these kids. That’s maybe easier on larger schools than small schools. When you have kids who play on both sides, that’s a little tougher to keep up with.”