New statewide regulations restricting the amount of player-to-player contact in high school football practices will not have a major impact at Shawano Community High School.
Passed by a 10-0 vote of the WIAA board of directors June 26 in Stevens Point, the new regulations do not call for anything different than what SCHS is already doing, according to football coach Al Tomow.
“I like to think we weren’t the reason for the changes,” Tomow said. “We were proactive, did a nice job of taking care of our players. That doesn’t really change our practices a whole lot.”
Tomow said he likes to use practice time to do a lot of teaching instead of having the players do a lot of hitting.
“We have to maximize our time together,” Tomow said. “Maximize our live sessions, try to create competition and use our time wisely.”
The new safety rules were devised by members of a Wisconsin Football Coaches Association advisory committee, three doctors and officials from the WIAA.
During the first week of practice, which can begin Aug. 5, the new regulations limit players to “wrap” (drills run at full speed until contact, which is above the waist and the players remain on their feet), “air” (unopposed without bags or any opposition) and “bags” (shields, bags, pads or contact with soft surfaces).
Live contact and “thud” (same as wrap but tempo is competitive) would be limited to 75 minutes in the second week. In the third week and after, thud and full contact would be limited to 60 minutes a week during practice.
“Remember we are always thinking of the safety of the players who participate in our great sport of football,” WFCA Executive Director Dan Brunner wrote to coaches last week. “We feel we have put together a plan that will serve as the national model for contact regulation.”
In January, the WIAA released guidelines for member schools dealing with acclimatization, trying to prevent incidents of heat illness during practices.
Both steps, the WIAA leadership says, shows they are being proactive in making football safe.
“I think it’s a good step in a right direction to protect football players and making football a safer sport in the long run,” Tomow said.
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