GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — As soon as you walk onto West Catholic's practice field, you know their football team is prepared for the warm weather. The bleachers lining the field are adorned with two giant team Gatorade jugs, and dozens of smaller jugs and bottles that the players brought themselves.
"I told them they better all have gallon jugs of water, because we can't control the heat that's been coming our way, but we can control the intake of water. We have to make sure we're able to play safely in this heat," said West Catholic head coach Landon Grove.
The Falcons will have to wait to play their first game of the year, a highly-anticipated matchup against Edwardsburg. The Eddies' athletic office contacted West Catholic on Sunday night to talk about potentially delaying Thursday's game because of the anticipated heat index. By Monday, the decision was final.
"It was just one of those decisions where for the safety of everybody, not just kids, but everybody involved that it's better if we move the game to Friday," Grove said.
"In a perfect world, I wish we were playing Thursday because we started prep yesterday, but and at the end of the day, we have to do what's right for the kids."
The game is now scheduled to take place Friday at 7 p.m. in Edwardsburg.
Geoff Kimmerly with the Michigan High School Athletic Association says the West Catholic vs. Edwardsburg game is the first one he's aware of that's been delayed due to weather, and as of Monday afternoon it remains the only delay.
"I had anticipated we would have more than this to be honest today. So I'm expecting at least a few more of those calls to our office just to ask, 'What do we need to do? What's next?'" Kimmerly said.
"I do think people are probably waiting more to see how things start to look, because people have all these festivities built into that first game. School is just starting out for a lot of people this week, and so they have all those things to work around also."
The MHSAA has heat and humidity guidelines for its playoff games. Among other things, the guidelines say practice and play should stop if the heat index is above 104 degrees. During the regular season, schools are given autonomy to make their own choices. However, many schools follow the MHSAA's guidelines even during the regular season.
"Our schools are pretty awesome about realizing the importance of making time when it's really hot out, and when it's really humid out, and that heat index is up there, and making sure our students are hydrated, especially when you're going to have a big night, like the opening night of varsity football," Kimmerly said.
As we get closer to gameday, Kimmerly said it's not just the players who need to make sure they're hydrated and prepared for the heat.
"I think it's important to mention that our spectators need to be following the same advice. If they're planning on going a game on Thursday, they need to start getting some extra water in their bodies right now. Just to be ready to even just sit out there. That twilight sun is going to be there for a good hour or hour and a half," he said.
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