John Bendall owner of Re/Max Classic Group brings attention to new recommendations by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Associations for preseason football practice.

A recent article from the Courier News may be of particular interest to New Jersey parents who have children who will be playing football in the upcoming school year.  The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association has made some new recommendations for preseason football which may affect your child’s practice.  The recommendations are not mandatory but they are made with the safety of the players in mind.  “They were recommended by the state association medical advisory committee of physicians, certified athletic trainers and department of education officials with the intent of preventing fatalities or catastrophic injuries from the cumulative effects of practicing in the heat.”

The recommendations include the following;

- Teams cannot wear full pads during the first three days of training camp, which the NJSIAA calls an acclimatization period.

-A five-hour practice day may not be followed by a practice day of greater than three hours.

- No practice day can exceed five hours.

- Warm-up, stretching, conditioning, weight training and cool-down periods are considered practice.

Two New Jersey football players died last year from cardiac arrest during practice. These new recommendations seek to eliminate further tragedies.  While everyone understands that these suggestions are in the best interest of the players, not everyone agrees that they are appropriate for high school players.  The suggestions are based on guidelines that are enforced on a college level, they do not neccisarily take into consideration the high school schedule.  For the complete Courier News article visit http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070731/NEWS/707310326.

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