Sports and Outdoors

 Lake Info

Normal Lake Level is 322.00 feet above Mean Sea Level.
Current level for Cedar Creek Lake is: 321.14 Water Temperature:
85  degrees - top
83 degrees - bottom

Monitor Photo/Kerry Yancey
Kemp High School junior Johnny Kilgore squirts water into his mouth during a break in practice. Cedar Creek Lake area coaches are careful to schedule regular water breaks as the temperature/humidity index hovers in the high 90s even during early-morning practices.

All three teams meet almost all of the UIL recommendations, which, again, are not backed by any formal enforcement.
Cantrell said the decision to alter practice is a collaborative one with head trainer Chris Brock, taking into account the heat, humidity, heat index, length of practice and what the players are wearing (full pads or shorts and T-shirt).
“I decide if and when it is too hot to practice,” Anderson said. “Fortunately, we haven’t had that issue yet, practicing in the morning.”
“First, this week looks to be cooler than most first weeks in my memory,” Wendel said. “Morning practices do help tremendously.
“I confer with our trainer daily about heat,” Wendel added. “This is my third year, and we have only altered practice twice, due to heat, but have not cancelled a practice. The change was shortening periods.”
All three teams have a trainer on hand during practices, and usually have a number of student trainers providing water to athletes between repetitions.
“We schedule water breaks every 20 minutes during practice,” Anderson said.
“Once we move to the afternoon, it will help that we’ve had two weeks of practice to get used to the heat, but then we will have to monitor the heat on a daily basis,” Anderson added.
“We ensure the kids drink water before we go to each practice,” Wendel said. “We take four three-minute breaks throughout the course of practice, and water between reps as needed. We provide Gatoraide at the conclusion of each practice and offer iced towels when it is real hot.”
Mabank schedules one formal water break – about 10 minutes long – during a practice, Cantrell reported.
“While we only have one scheduled break, student trainers are assigned to the different coaches and their respective groups, so water is constantly available to the players as they run through their drills,” Cantrell said. “Individual coaches also can give their respective groups additional breaks at their discretion.”
When Mabank players go to afternoon practices, those practices will be shorter, Cantrell said, adding weather conditions always will be taken into account when scheduling the individual group periods.
“Normally, by the time we change to the afternoon practices, the players have been practicing for a couple of weeks and have become acclimatized to the weather enough that additional precautions beyond what we are already taking aren’t necessary,” Cantrell added.
The UIL recommends each athlete to be weighed before and after practices, with the results listed on charts for comparison.
Generally, a 3 percent weight loss through sweating is considered safe, and more than 3 percent is considered in the danger zone, according to UIL guidelines, which add if a player’s weight loss is more than 3 percent, the athlete should not be allowed to practice in hot and humid conditions.
“Big guys are weighed before and after (practices),” Anderson said.
“We have a few selected kids who we weigh that we feel we need to keep an eye on, but in general, we do not weigh the entire team,” Wendel said.
“During two-a-days, we have a scale and weight chart set up in the weight room for the players to weigh and sign in,” Cantrell said.
None of the three teams have ice baths on the sideline, as recommended by NATA guidelines, but all three have the ability to dunk players in ice baths in their respective locker/training rooms.
“It is economically feasible (to have an ice bath on the field), but logistically for us, it works better to have the cold whirlpools prepared inside the training room,” Cantrell said.
“We do keep ice towels available outside that the players can use during a break, or at the beginning signs of a problem,” Cantrell added. “For more severe cases, we prefer getting them inside out of the heat, and then we can place them in a cold whirlpool in the training room.”
 

All Americans win Little League District
Courtesy Photo/ Lori Overton
Members of the Cedar Creek Area Little League All Americans gather for a photo after winning District in their division. Pictured are (from left, front row) Haley McNutt, Amanda Anderson, Haley Browning and Harleigh Bardin; (back row) assistant coach Joseph Gage, Kelsey Gage, Brittnee Wilson, Shelby Welch, Madison Kerr and head coach William Welch. Not pictured are Kendall Roberts, Emilee Wisinger, Summer Williams and Nicole Wade.
 

CCWGA wins MGA challenge
Courtesy Photo
For the first time in recent memory, the WGA/MGA Challenge was won by the ladies of the Cedar Creek Country Club. Gathering for a photo after the two-day tournament in 100-degree heat are Cedar Creek Women's Golf Association members. Pictured are (from left, front row) Kitty Bradfield, Nancy Barton, Jolyne Mcgregor, Shirley Brown and Becky Lenamond; (back row) Debra Davis, Sunny Lasiter, Marianna Ziegler, Helen Fowler, Louise Powers, Mary Adams, Kathy Hunt and Shirley Pinkham.