Fall Practice Guidelines

Fall practice requirements

These fall practice guidelines are intended for use in the following sports: Football, Volleyball, Cheerleading, Cross Country, and Field Hockey.

27-10-4 Fall Practice Guidelines-Schools will follow practice guidelines which would apply to all students in all fall sports except golf. If schools choose not to follow the guidelines listed in the Handbook they must have locally approved policies and procedures that are reasonably calculated to keep student athletes safe from hot and humid weather conditions, and meet adequate conditioning, based on current sports medicine research and recommendations.

The first violation will result in an official warning.

(1) During their first six days of tryouts:

(a) No practice session, full or walk-thru, may exceed three hours.

(b) Total practice time per day is limited to five hours.

(c) Only one full practice session is permitted per day; it may be broken into two sessions.

(d) One walk-thru session is permitted on the day of a full practice.

(e) Two walk-thru practices may be substituted for a full and a walk-thru session(s).

(f) A one-hour minimum recovery period must be included between sessions.

(2) For weeks two and three the following regulations apply in addition to (a) through above:

(a) Two full practices are permissible per day provided they do not exceed five total hours, or three hours in a single session.

(b) No more than three full practices may be conducted in two consecutive calendar days.

(3) For the purpose of the regulations above, a full practice is defined as a session allowing the use of any available equipment, involving all levels of activity permitted in the specific sport and includes necessary conditioning and weight training. A walk-thru session is a limited exertion session that includes skill-based, educational technique and oriented activities using sports appropriate equipment. Conditioning and weight training may not be included as part of a walk-thru session. Recovery period is defined as a session in which the athlete is not involved in physical activity.

Note: The following restrictions are in place for football only: Day 1-3 helmets only; Day 4-5 helmets and shoulder pads; Day 6+ full pads.