Tennessee high school football 2023: Heat index practice policy, scrimmage schedule and more
With Tennessee high school football teams eligible to begin practicing in full pads next week, here are some things you need to know about the 2023 season and preseason:
Getting started
Before practicing in full pads, football teams must have two days of practicing in just helmets and three days of practicing in helmets and shoulder pads. And 7-on-7 competitions are not considered a practice.
Monday is the first day teams can practice in full pads but only for athletes who have completed the heat acclimation process. Teams are allowed to begin as early as midnight. Rockvale will have a midnight practice beginning at 12:01 a.m. Monday to be the first to practice in pads.
Practice? We're talking about practice.
Single practices cannot exceed three hours. Teams may practice multiple times in a day, but under these regulations:
Teams cannot have multiple practices on consecutive days.
Total practice time in a day cannot exceed five hours.
Only one of the practices can involve full contact.
There must be three hours of rest in a cool environment separating each practice.
Beating the heat
According to TSSAA rules, "Each school is responsible for obtaining either a Wet Bulb Globe Temperature or heat index reading at the site of practices and competitions. Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) takes into account more environmental factors than heat index and should be a school’s first choice.
"In the absence of a Wet Bulb Globe Temperature reading, a digital psychrometer or other instrument may be used at the site of the activity to measure the heat index. The use of a weather app on a cell phone is permissible to measure heat index if no other instrument is available to measure heat index at the site of the practice or competition."
The organization also said cold water immersion tubs or other forms of cooling should be made available on site during outdoor practices in the heat, as well as access to drinking water.
Football teams practicing outdoors must follow these TSSAA guidelines:
If the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature is 82-86.9 or the heat index is under 95 degrees: Provide at least three separate rest breaks each hour.
WBGT 87-89.9 or heat index of 95-99 degrees: Maximum practice time of two hours. Provide at least four separate rest breaks. Players are restricted to helmet, shoulder pads and shorts during practice that does not involve contact and all protective equipment must be removed during conditioning activities.
WBGT 90-92 or heat index 100-104: Maximum practice time is one hour. There must be 20 minutes or rest breaks throughout the hour and conditioning activities are not allowed. No protective equipment may be worn during practice that does not involve contact.
WBGT above 92 or heat index above 104: No outdoor practice is allowed. Preseason scrimmages and jamborees must be postponed in the absence of an appropriate health care professional (Certified Athletic Trainer, Certified Nurse Practitioner, Physicians Assistant, Doctor of Medicine, Osteopathic Physician) with access to a cold water immersion tub or other rapid on-site cooling method.
Two new high school football programs
Two new Nashville area football teams debut this fall at Nashville's James Lawson High and Clarksville's Kirkwood High.
James Lawson will compete in Region 6-5A along with Page, Hillsboro, Glencliff, Nolensville and Centennial. The Lightning will scrimmage at Liberty Creek on July 28 and at Ezell-Harding on Aug. 4 and will participate in the Metro Nashville Jamboree at home vs. Hunters Lane on Aug. 10 at 7 p.m.
Kirkwood will compete in Region 7-6A along with Kenwood, Clarksville, Dickson County, Northwest, Northeast, Rossview and West Creek. The Cobras will scrimmage Green Hill on July 28 and will participate in the 615 Preps Preseason Showcase at East Robertson on Aug. 11.
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Key dates
First day of practice in full pads: Monday, July 24.
First day teams can scrimmage: Thursday, July 27.
Regular season begins: Thursday, Aug. 17.
Playoffs begin: Friday, Nov. 3.
BlueCross Bowl state championships (in Chattanooga): Thursday, Nov. 30 (Division II-A, Division II-AA, Division II-AAA); Friday, Dec. 1 (Class 1A, 3A, 5A); Saturday, Dec. 2 (Class 2A, Class 4A, Class 6A).
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Top scrimmages/jamborees
July 27: Nolensville at Ravenwood, 6 p.m.
July 28: Springfield at CPA, 9 a.m.; Father Ryan at Blackman, 5 p.m.; Pearl-Cohn at Lipscomb, 5:30 p.m.; Cane Ridge at Oakland, 5:30 p.m.; Hendersonville at Mt. Juliet, 6 p.m.; MBA at Independence, 6 p.m.
Aug. 4: McCallie at Oakland, 5 p.,m.; Beech at Smyrna, 6 p.m.; Stewarts Creek at Riverdale, 6 p.m.; Pearl-Cohn at Brentwood Academy, 7 p.m.
Aug. 10: Ravenwood at Rockvale, 6 p.m.; Oakland at MBA, 7 p.m.
Metro Nashville Jamboree (Stratford at Hillsboro, Antioch at Overton, Pearl-Cohn at Cane Ridge, McGavock at Maplewood, Hunters Lane at James Lawson, Whites Creek at Glencliff), all games begin at 7 p.m.;
Aug. 11: Riverdale at Centennial, 6 p.m.; East Nashville at Independence, 6 p.m..; Pope Prep at Brentwood, 6:30 p.m.; Page at Marshall Co., 7 p.m.
615 Preps Preseason Showcase at Oakland (matchups TBA); 615 Preps Preseason Showcase at East Robertson (matchups TBA).
This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: TSSAA football: Heat index policy, 2023 Nashville scrimmage schedule
