The heat dome at the end of August continues to affect athletes’ seasons a month later. Heat domes occur when heat waves are intensified and persist throughout a period of time.
“I think the way we played the following golf tournaments was majorly affected,” junior Nevaeh Smith said. “We had to rush to be able to practice before the tournaments and we were somewhat rusty.”
Day-today practice times for the football team changed due to the heat after school.
“We went at 6 a.m. and practice was changed to be a bit shorter,” junior Gabe Kohls said.
However, golf and football are not the only sports that face challenges because of the temperatures.
“Tennis practice changed quite a bit,” freshman Ellasyn Mettling said. “The first couple of days, the team met in our coach’s classroom, went over keeping rules and watched videos over form.”
Activities throughout golf practice include modified schedules and timing.
“We did 15 minute increments of putting and chipping on the green,” Smith said.
When heat limited practices, coaches use that time to teach other aspects of their respective sports.
“Our coach spent days where we kind of just practiced and memorized rules and learned technical stuff,” Smith said.
The lack of consistent practice days directly influenced tournament play for tennis.
“There were lots of shifting positions because there wasn’t a day to see where everyone would be placed,” Mettling said.
While some sports experience the consequences of unsteady practice routines, others do not.
“I wasn’t affected too much since we still practiced, but I think the team overall could’ve been affected,” Kohls said.
