AUSTIN (Reuters) - Most high school football players who die from heat-related illness are overweight, in the first weeks of practice, and on the field in the morning, when the humidity is high and coaches take cooler temperatures for granted, researchers said on Thursday.
In a summer that has seen record heat, severe droughts and four football-practice deaths, scientists and climatologists say the risks for players are higher than ever.
And they're cautioning coaches and teams to put health over victory as practice kicks off across the United States this week amid a historic heat wave.
It can be easier said than done in a culture that glorifies high school football and demands excellence from its teams -- and often balks at attempts to reign in "two-a-day" practices and intense workout regimens, said Michael Bergeron, a professor and senior scientist at Sanford Medical Center at the University of South Dakota.
When it comes to high school football, "a lot of people really take a lot of offense at any attempt at controlling it," said Bergeron, a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists, which addressed reporters in a teleconference Thursday about the
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