A SPECIAL REPORT: SUMMER FOOTBALL SURVIVAL : Running Water

Grueling Sessions

Football conditioning has begun at City Section high schools, and in the Valley that often means practicing in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees. Coaches are more aware than ever of the need to provide players with frequent water breaks to prevent heat-related problems.

Running Water

Rick Hayashida, above, coach of defending City 3-A champion El Camino Real in Woodland Hills, allows his players to get water during practice whenever they need it. “Because of some deaths [nationwide] in the last few years from dehydration, everybody plays it safe,” he said.

Local Tragedy

In 1992, heatstroke claimed the life of Sergio Echevarria, a 17-year-old senior at San Fernando High who collapsed after running sprints in the afternoon when the temperature reached 102 degrees. Echevarria, who was trying out for the football team for the first time, lapsed into a coma and died two days later.

Wiser Approach

Hayashida, a fullback on Chatsworth’s City 3-A championship team in 1979, said coaches have come a long way since his playing days, when players were given salt pills and denied water at practice because that was believed the best method to toughen them for the season.