Texas Heat is a concern with football right around the corner

It has been a summer of record temperatures across Texas, and with August and the start of summer practices just around the corner, it won’t let up just yet.

Things got off to a hot start last month as scientists say it was one of the hottest June’s ever recorded. Then we moved into July, and the 4th of July was a scorcher, as was the rest of the month with almost ev- ery day in the last couple of months; it seemed the feels like was at least 110.

Texas cities and towns alone have set 369 daily high- temperature records since June 1. In the past 30 days, nearly 5,000 heat and rainfall records have been broken or tied in the US, and more than 10,000 records have been set globally, according to NOAA.

In other words, it has been hot. With that being said, football practice will start on Monday.

Hardin Head Coach Chad Taylor will have the Hornets having afternoon practices starting at 4 p. m. and going till early evening.

“Obviously, it’s a concern for us,” said Taylor of the heat. “ We have talked to the kids and told them if they need water or start to feel bad for them to let us know immediately. We don’t have an indoor facility here, so the options are limited.”

This will be Taylor’s first year at Hardin.

“We will have water all over the football field and we will monitor the situation closely. There might be days we move practice off the turf and on a grass field,” added Taylor.

Over at Liberty, the Panthers will take a different path with football practice the first week, according to Liberty Head Coach Chris Lackey.

“We will hit the practice fields early in the morning,” said Lackey.

Last year the Panthers added lights to their track, a new scoreboard, and new goalpost.

“ We will be on the practice field around 5:30 a.m. and go for a couple of hours,” added Lackey. “With the lights, we now have that luxury, so we will take full advantage of it.”

Lackey also said plenty of water stations will be set up as scheduled water breaks will be on the schedule.

“ Having practice early will hopefully help us stay ahead of the heat.”

Each of Liberty County’s six districts will have to deal with the high temperatures, and The Vindicator will be there to cover it every step of the way. Get the latest local sports by subscribing today at 936-336-3611 or online at thevindicator. com.