Rain alters football practice schedules

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If it rains, a football team can’t practice.

If a football team can’t practice, it can’t properly condition and prepare its athletes before the start of a new season.

Such is the dilemma local teams faced this past week as stormy skies dominated the area.

Area coaches are concerned with the practice time they’ve missed because of the wet weather that rolled through Louisiana this past week.

Practices were mostly canceled or moved indoors for most of last week, which has some thinking the start of the season may be a little bit sloppy around Louisiana as teams adjust to having less work before games start than normal.

“I feel like we’re an arena football team right now, because it seems like every, single day lately, we’ve been indoors,” Thibodaux football coach Chris Dugas said. “Our practices are good when we’re able to do the things that we need to do, but it seems like every day, we’re limited because it’s wet and we can’t get outdoors.”

Coaches said the biggest concern about the wet weather isn’t so much execution once the season begins, but is more injuries and cramps.

Dugas said a lot goes into preparing a team for game competition, and conditioning is a big part of that process.

With fewer days in the heat, more players may cramp – or at the very least, be tired earlier in games.

As players get tired, they lose focus and are often out of position, which often leads to big hits and possible injuries.

“It’s the same for just about everybody in the state right now,” Dugas said. “Everyone is dealing with it. No one is really gaining any advantage on anyone else. It’s slowing us all down. I know we’re all hoping it’s drier and better before the season.”

It’s expected to be clearer this week.

Weather forecasts throughout the week predict typical summertime patterns with afternoon showers being hit or miss depending on an area.

That’s good news for coaches, because it should mean that they’ll get more outdoors time – assuming that practice fields are dry after the last week’s rain.

Several area scrimmages set for this week have been moved to Nicholls’ turf field to ease pressure on soggy grass at area stadiums.