School athletes, outdoor workers shift schedules to escape peak heat

It's 9 a.m. at Northwest Rankin High School, and the temperature is already over 90 degrees. Standing on the Cougar's artificial turf field, Head Football Coach Devin Cooper says it gets a lot hotter than fans realize.

“I would say you're going to be 10, 15 degrees at the ground level higher than maybe what you'd be otherwise,” he says.

He's one of the several administrators in the state that are utilizing a recent recommendation from the Mississippi High School Activities Association: move kickoff of the first game of the season to 8 p.m. to give athletes and fans some relief from the heat.

More than a dozen games scheduled this week have changed times, and Cooper thinks it will be an ideal experience for both players and fans.

“The temp is a big difference from 8 p.m. at night to what you would feel at 4 to 4:30, even 5 o'clock,” he said. “But every minute is going to lower the degree… We've noticed that through practices and things that we do in the evenings out here, but at 8 p.m. you're gonna have a really nice atmosphere.”

Sam Williams, the head football coach at Brandon High School, is also taking up the MHSAA's offer. He says he's done his best to educate his players on how to take care of themselves in these high temperatures, and his students are no strangers to change.

“It's been tough but it's, you know, it's just part of life,” he said. We all, two and a half years ago, went through COVID and you had to do stuff, you know, completely different than you ever did it… So, I think now that [we’ve got] pretty extreme heat here, it's just… improvise and overcome and find a way to try to prepare these kids the best we can.”

Both coaches have moved practice times as well, either practicing after sundown or early in the morning. Jeff Martinez, a Sports Medicine specialist for the University of Mississippi Medical Center, says these athletes still need to safely practice in some level of heat so their bodies don’t go into shock.

“It's just like running a marathon. You would never send a teenager or an adult to go from the couch and just go run a marathon. There's a slow build up,” he said. “The problem becomes if someone goes from 0 to 100, they're not acclimated, and that's when we can have some really serious problems.”

Dr. Derrick Burgess is an assistant professor of orthopedics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He says employers and supervisors have an obligation to protect their workers and athletes during these very high temperatures, especially those with pre-existing health conditions.

“You need to be more protective of those employees, athletes, whoever that person may be when they're being exposed to this heat for long periods of time,” he said. “And then also maybe adjusting the work day… Can they start the day earlier? Can they work later into the evening versus being out right in the middle of the day from 11 to 5 or 11 to sunset when the temperature is the highest?”

But despite the ongoing heat advisory — and warnings from health experts — those who work outdoors in the state are powering through to do their jobs.

Outside a two-story brick home in the Jackson neighborhood of Belhaven, Bryan Self and his landscaping partner Sarah Bagget are two hours into their job. Self owns and operates his own lawn care company, and says, despite the excessive heat, he's been on the job nearly everyday — sometimes up to four hours at a time.

“There have been some times when I have to just go out at maybe five o'clock [p.m.] and go cut grass… work until it's dark out,” he said. “and get up early in the morning, be out there at seven o'clock… and go until you can't.”

A few blocks away, road crews pour cement and lay duct work along Riverside Drive. It's a reminder that some professions can't escape the heat.

“If I didn’t come out here, I wouldn’t get a paycheck,” Self said.

Medical professionals insist that those who must work outdoors stay hydrated and heed warnings from their bodies. Jeff Martinez, Director of Operations for Orthopedics at UMMC, says excessive heat exposure can cause damage to the entire body.

“The longer that a person's body has hyperthermia, which is increased core temperature, that could just lead to organ damage, organ failure,” he said. “Prior to that, we might see some neurological symptoms where they might get confused or become disoriented or have somewhat of a blank stare.”

Almost every county in the state remains under an excessive heat warning.