BEATING THE HEAT: High temps demand hydration to avoid cramping

"Officials timeout for injury." The referee at last Friday's Port Clinton-Bellevue football game stopped play on the steamy turf at True-Lay Stadium at least a dozen times during the three-hour game, reciting that familiar line as players struggled with leg cramps. That's August in Ohio, though. It was 82 degrees at kickoff and temperatures again will be in the 80s for Week 2 football games. On Saturday, it's supposed to be even hotter for soccer, tennis, cross country and volleyball matches. Experts say young athletes need to hydrate days before games in order to best fend off cramps. "Really, you can't drink enough, especially when it's hot and muggy," said Dr. Matthew Widmer, who specializes in primary care and sports medicine for Firelands Regional Medical Center. "When they're starting to feel it, they're already behind the 8-ball. They need to stay ahead of it. If you're going into the game a quart low, so to speak, it's a recipe for problems." Widmer said a good warmup and stretch, coupled with electrolyte and hydration replacement, are ways athletes can fend off cramps. But there are no guarantees, even for the fittest competitors. "Cramps are really tough to deal with, even at the pro and college level, because physiologically you can't pinpoint a specific reason," said certified athletic trainer Bill Gosser, who works for Firelands and has been Sandusky's football trainer for many years. "We think that is has to do with some level of dehydration and possibly missing some of the electrolytes like potassium. The main one is sodium." Widmer, a member of the Ohio National Guard, has seen cramping issues at the high school level and beyond. "You might be surprised how many young, physically fit soldiers falls out because of heat and cramps," he said. Water breaks, diets Sandusky's football team went through 40 gallons of cold water at Tuesday's practice. The Blue Streaks took seven water breaks. Junior linebacker/tight end Damarion Westbrook has learned the hard way that hydrating is an important part of game preparation. He regularly suffered from cramps last year, but hasn't had many problems this year. "Last year I only drank water the day before a game or during a game," he said. "This year I drink water as much as I can through the week." Westbrook has some incentive. He'd rather not go through the pain of cramps. "It feels like a needle is being stuck inside your skin and won't go away," he said. "It's very painful, one of the worst feelings I've ever had." An athlete's diet also can help prevent or make cramps more likely. "This isn't college football where we can monitor the kids' nutrition," Port Clinton coach Beau Carmon said. "Drinking water alone isn't necessarily going to get it done. "It's an eye-opener for the kids. They like to eat a lot of junk. They're going to have to make sure they take care of themselves. I always talk about getting off your feet and in the air conditioning when you're not at practice." Perkins coach Jalen Santoro said the Pirates lost many defenders during the fourth quarter of a hard-hitting game at Bellevue last season. He called that moment "a learning point." "It's a constant battle with the kids because they don't really know what dehydration is," Santoro said. "We had nice weather for camp (this year) and you play the first game at it's in the 80s. It's always that way in Ohio. "You gotta stay on them and make sure they're hydrating, and hydrating by themselves when they're not at practice. We don't know if they're drinking three pops a day." Getting acclimated High school football games in Ohio were played a week earlier this year to accommodate an extra round of playoffs. The earlier start, the heat and the fact that many games are played on artificial turf may all be contributing factors that lead to cramps. "Kids are still getting in shape and they're not acclimated to the heat, and they probably haven't been drinking water regularly when they're not here," Gosser said. Gosser said he keeps a close eye on players who have a history of cramping, as well as the bigger players. "Some of the big linemen are heat bombs," he said. "Their muscles are creating a lot of heat so you have to keep an eye on them, obviously." Air conditioning is a modern convenience that makes hot days and nights bearable, but it also can backfire on athletes. "Since I started (in the 1990s) the practices aren't as rigorous," Gosser said. "But it goes both ways. We didn't have the cold water we have available now. Kids now spend a lot of time in air conditioning so they're not as acclimated when they get out here. That could work against them." Gosser uses coolers to keep water cold during practice and mixes in sports drinks because some athletes prefer the taste of Gatorade or Pedialyte, which contain electrolytes. Electrolytes are substances in the blood that help cellular function and help to regulate and control muscle contraction, Widmer said. Sodium, which helps maintain fluid balance, also is important. "If you do continuous activity for 90 minutes, you lose more of the electrolytes such as potassium, magnesium, calcium, you lose trace amounts," Gosser said. "But the big one is sodium. The days of giving out salt tablets is done. The kids sometimes eat pickles. Saltier foods, nobody's short of sodium in the kids' diets these days." Pace of play Another factor that stresses football players is the style of modern the game. "It's not like back in the day when you huddled up and got a break between every play," said Bellevue coach Ed Nasonti. "It's like a basketball game." Nasonti said the coaching staffs, trainers and officials all did their best to keep players hydrated during last Friday's game, but several players still missed much of the game with injuries. "This year is the earliest we've ever had to play a game," he said. "We had 70 snaps on offense; that's a lot of ball to play. The refs were trying to keep everyone watered up. It's always the early games." Athletes are aware of the importance of hydrating; they hear about it all the time. Especially early in the season. "I'm staying hydrated now," Westbrook said. "I'm keeping up with it." Sandusky coach Mike Franklin talked to his players about the importance of drinking water during practice and during the school day. He told the Blue Streaks on Tuesday that it was 87 degrees in his classroom at Sandusky High School. "I think it's much better when we're at practice because we can somewhat control what they do," Franklin said. "The harder part is when they get into school. Even though they have the water there and you can tell them every time they go past a water fountain to fill up their bottle, the young man has to decide whether he's going to do that. "A lot of guys don't believe us old coaches when we tell them they can't start drinking just two hours before the game and it'll work. We tell them the game starts Monday, that's when the process begins." Widmer said many athletes feel "indestructible," but they also benefit from more awareness. Gone are the long practices when players were denied water because it was thought to be a sign of weakness. "There's a lot of acceptance of medical resources in sports now, more than ever, from the coaching staffs to the refs," Widmer said. "That's been a change over the last couple decades. We can't just run them all to a pulp and expect them to be injury free and perform at a high level." ----- Hydration tips for athletes Certified athletic trainer Bill Gosser says "the best thing is to drink 18-20 ounces of water before you go to bed." Gosser also suggests drinking 18-20 ounces in the morning when you wake up and drink 16-18 ounces a half hour before practice. Also, parents should consider weighing athletes before and after practices. "Drink 22 ounces for every pound you lost," Gosser said.