During the past few weeks, the heat has shot up an astronomical amount. Many students at McMahon have already stated that it doesn’t affect them in school alone. If it is incredibly hot, students need to regulate what to wear during the day without thinking about what their after-school activities require from them.
For those who are athletes, it is much harder to stay focused or even stay well when in extreme heat. Our marching band is one sport that takes a lot of energy in order to perform. So far we have had people get sick, faint, have to go home, and even pass out during a run.
“I struggle you know, sometimes that sun is glaring in my eye where I have to squint and I have to find my sunnies (sunglasses) and I don’t know where they went, my hands are getting sweaty I can’t hold the stick, the playing is getting dirty, it’s just tough times,” said Saeran Hernandez during his interview.
Another student, Julia Wayland (part of the field hockey team) said, “I try not to sit out because I’m trying to stay on my A-game but there’s been a time where I left the field during a game because I thought I was going to faint so it gave me a panic attack.. This heat is not it, it’s not cute, it’s not working on me. I literally cannot catch a breath, I have no time to breathe in this heat.” During every interview, students were asked how many times they felt sick or felt they were going to faint during practice. The responses varied from 1 to 40 times.
For all sports out there, not only school sports, there are many precautions that are taken in order to protect our players. These precautions are used here at McMahon as well. We are told to drink plenty of water even if you aren’t thirsty. We need to eat good meals in the morning, afternoon, and night; along with this, we need to sit out if there is something wrong. Our coaches stress the importance of health before anything and they constantly show this with their care.
Throughout the past few weeks, the heat has caused some changes in plans not only for the school day but for after-school practices as well. Two weeks ago throughout the first week of September, student practices had to be changed due to the 90-degree heat. I can’t speak for all activities, but band students were allowed to have outdoor practice for 90 minutes max and the rest was indoor practice.
The band went from their usual 4-hour practices outside practicing drill to 90 minutes of learning visuals in the school cafeteria, then going outside for 90 minutes of going over drill for what felt like forever. “Safety is always the first thing and hopefully after being said numerous times, people would be prepared for not only the rehearsal but for throughout the day.”
As the season is getting colder, and we get to wear our comfy cozy clothes, it is safe to say that everyone is happy fall is finally feeling like fall.
