SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The heat is rising across the Golden State and so are the precautions to ensure the safety of student athletes. This year, new regulations go into effect when it comes to the heat, but some schools are seeing it take a toll on their everyday schedules, especially in the East County.
All 10 of the California Interscholastic Federation's sections have been assigned a category, one through three, when it comes to the heat. For the Ramona Bulldogs, they’re in category one, meaning they can’t start practice or play until it dips below 86.2 degrees.
"It's tough, and I think there are plenty of schools that are a similar climate to Ramona that are struggling with it too,” says head JV football coach Trevor Ginsberg.
Ginsberg and the other coaches have been working around the clock to adhere to the new guidelines, keeping their athletes safe while also helping them maintain a consistent schedule with enough time for sports and their classwork.
But in some cases, it's causing their days to be much longer.
"We support the idea that we don't want, you know, the kids practicing in ridiculous temperatures and things like that," says Ginsberg. "But we've had to push back many practices to evenings -- interrupting family dinners and whatnot."
While adjusting to the new rules, Ginsberg does believe there may need to be an adjustment for the organization of the categories here in San Diego County.
“They've grouped a lot of the cities together, which sets a disadvantage and [brings up] safety issues for our kids," he says.
Ramona High is in the same category as schools on the coast, like Torrey Pines and Carlsbad high schools, which can sometimes be nearly 20 degrees cooler.
Ginsberg is not the only one who believes their adjustment to new rules for safety may impact their season.
"Our coastal players, they get advantages on us when we play them because it's just like... They get more practice on than us," says JV quarterback Trake Kelly. "They may get full four days of full practice, full pads, then they get to go home and be students."
He understands the intention of the new rules, but admits they're trying their hardest to find a balance.
"We're out here trying, you know, but the weather says we can't practice, then we can't -- but many of us are used to practicing in this," Kelly says.
While it’s the first year of working within the new regulations, Ginsberg just wants it to be fair for his players.
"At the end of the day, we just we want it to be safe. And we want the kids to to still be able to get home and have dinner and do their homework and things like that, without having to wait hours and hours before they're able to get on the field of practice," he says.
