By CHRIS BABB | Special to arkadelphian.com
If you’re a fan of winter, you’re not a fan of the forecast for the rest of the week. Even at that, although there are many people who prefer summer weather to winter weather, I’m not sure anybody is a fan of the weather when it gets as hot as it will feel like this week.
There are many who have to be outside in the heat for work or play and several of those people are students involved in extracurricular activities that have practices outside. This week during the day, Arkadelphia High School will have several teams preparing for the fall seasons outside including football, the Badger Pride Marching band, tennis, golf among others
The Arkansas Activities Association requires all coaches to complete a wide range of professional development courses. One course offered and required is a course that covers heat illness prevention. Fortunately for the student-athletes of APSD, there is also a Certified Athletic Trainer employed by the school district in partnership with OrthoArkansas.
The coaches and Athletic Trainers know what to do and take the necessary precautions the time that the student-athletes are with them in the fieldhouse, building, etc.
More important to the health of the students is what they do with the other hours when they are not at the school. For most teams and groups, that’s the majority of the day. If you have a student-athlete participating in practice, it’s important to understand that how they take care of their bodies in the many hours between practices is just as important – if not more important – than the few hours they are in practice at school.
The Kendrick Fincher Hydration for Life organization has information available for parents who may have questions as to what they can do to help their student-athlete during those hours when they’re not under the supervision of a coach. The organization’s mission is to
“Promote proper hydration and prevent heat illness through education and supporting activities.” Interested individuals can find more information on proper hydration and other matters that often are involved in the heat illness prevention discussion.
Dam race about to burst
The annual late-summer race “That Dam Night Run” is scheduled for this Saturday night, July 27. Race organizers announced via the event’s Facebook page that the race is sold out and has reached capacity of 850 runners. The race is set to begin at 8:00.
The temperatures will still be hot but participants surely will look forward to the Iron Mountain Lodge and Marina Water Cannon.
The race is an annual event that supports The Call in Clark County, CASA of Clark and Pike Counties and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Clark County as well as other various children and family needs in the area.
From playbooks to writing books
Some readers may remember former AHS Badger football Offensive Coordinator and English teacher Eli Cranor from his time at AHS during the mid 2010s. Cranor is a graduate of Ouachita where he played quarterback before playing professional football in Europe before entering the coaching world.
After a couple of coaching stops after leaving Arkadelphia, Cranor traded in his whistle for a pen, a legal pad and a computer and is now an award-winning author. You can read more about Eli at his website here.
Cranor’s newest book is a “football-themed crime novel” titled “Mississippi Blue 42.” The novel is set during the 2013 season and features a fictional university in Mississippi. The murder mystery dips its toes into the current-day state of big-time college athletics with regard to the financial aspect of paying players – before it was legal.
Having already read the book, fellow Arkadelphians may enjoy finding a few Easter eggs in the novel that refer to landmarks or other parts of Arkadelphia from Cranor’s years living in the town. Cranor does a nice job of dropping those references in where only people from Arkadelphia might catch the reference.
“Mississippi Blue 42” officially goes on sale August 5, just in time to prepare college football fans for the upcoming season. Information on how to purchase the book can be found on his website.
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