Scorching heat wave taking a toll on Rotary all-star football players

John Becerra is not a fan of the heat. The Merced High defensive end’s shirt was drenched in sweat on Tuesday night as he made his way to the sideline for a water break during a North practice for the 32nd annual North/South Rotary All-Star Football Game.

Other players poured water over their heads in attempt to cool down. Others chatted about cool things.

Turlock star Danny Velasquez took an opportunity during a downtime at practice to tell Pitman star Devan Bass about a shaved ice shop that opened in Turlock. Velasquez gave a glowing review.

The scorching heat this week, that has resulted in temperatures easily surpassing triple digits, has been a big concern for coaches and game organizers. It’s supposed to get even hotter Thursday with the high expected for 109 degrees according to weather.com.

“I personally don’t like the heat at all,” said Becerra, who is one of the many players playing in their second all-star game in as many weeks. “You’re already sweating and hot and have to put your helmet on. This weather doesn’t help at all. It’s tough to breath at times. It sucks.”

The South team, which is made up of schools from the Central Section, practiced indoors on Monday. Sunnyside head coach Gordon Wood took his team inside the gym at Sunnyside High to work out. Wood moved the rest of his practices to 7 p.m. this week.

The North is practicing at 5:30 p.m. this week at Turlock High’s Joe Debely Stadium. Turlock coach James Peterson says they haven’t had to make many changes because of the heat.

“We just take more water breaks,” Peterson said. “We haven’t gone full gear and I don’t know that we’ll have to. We actually get a little breeze that goes through our stadium so it hasn’t been too bad.

“We have a trainer that’s there for the whole practice. She’s watching the players. I’m watching the players. The linemen I was a little worried about, but they’ve done pretty well.”

Game director Bob Green says the game time likely will be pushed back from 7:30 p.m. to 8 because of the heat. The game will be play at Veterans Stadium at Golden Valley High. The high for Saturday is expected to be 102 degrees.

“Three years ago we had the same problem and we started the game at 8,” Green said. “By 8:30 or 8:45 it had dropped to about 85 degrees and there was a light breeze. Hopefully, it will be the same on Saturday. We’ll have a lot of water on the sidelines on Saturday.”

Peterson is forcing his players to take mandatory water breaks every half hour during practices.

As the players made their way to the sideline during a water break on Tuesday, the trainer shouted, “Everyone has to get water. Helmets off. Everyone gets water.”

The coaches have stressed to the players the importance of hydrating all day – not just during practice.

“Whenever it gets 100-plus it sucks, especially in Turlock,” Velasquez said. “I grew up in Turlock so I’m used to it. We’ve been getting a lot of breaks during practice. You’ve got to drink a lot the night before. I’m drinking water every hour; sometimes every 20 minutes.”

“It’s essential to drink water the whole day and you have to eat right,” Becerra added. “If you don’t eat right you’re going to feel it during practice. Same thing with water. If you don’t drink water you’re going to feel it at practice.”

This story was originally published June 21, 2017 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Scorching heat wave taking a toll on Rotary all-star football players."