SPORTS

New OHSAA rules reduce contact in football practices

Kurt Snyder
Reporter
  • Football teams are not allowed full contact during both sessions of a two-a-day practice.
  • Teams are limited to 30 minutes of full contact per day during the regular season.

HEBRON – The strong might indeed survive, but Lakewood coach Craig Conley is not going to ask his Lancers to move up the Licking County League standings by dealing in hand-to-hand combat.

Conley said the more fundamental team will eventually become the stronger team, and that is what he hopes he sees from the Lancers in his second year in order to improve on a two-win 2014 season.

“It’s technique and fundamentals, so it is not a lot of banging for us,” Conley said. “We try to use as much of the time for timing purposes as well. The days of just lining two guys up and hitting each other have gone out the window for us. We don’t gain a lot out of that.”

To that extent, the new Ohio High School Athletic Association regulations on contact periods in practice will not affect the Lancers much at all. In July, the OHSAA adopted recommendations made by the National Federation of State High School Associations Concussion Summit Task Force.

In addition to the five-day acclimation period, teams are allowed full contact during just one session of two-a-day practices, and full contact is not allowed a following morning if teams used their full contact the previous afternoon.

Heath played for an LCL-Small School title a season ago, but graduated a large senior class. The Bulldogs will need to keep an experienced line and quarterback Aaron Latiolais healthy for 10 weeks.

“Being a small school, injuries are always a concern for us, and I think we did a pretty good job of keeping an eye on it the way we organize stuff,” Heath coach Mark Collier said.

Collier said much of it is “common sense.” He added the rules essentially dictate run-oriented practices being done in the mornings with 7-on-7 activities following in the afternoon.

To compete in the Ohio Capital Conference-Ohio Division, Newark coach Mike Kopachy knows his team must be physical. The Wildcats, however, have to be healthy, too.

Kopachy’s squad will hit anything it can find at the Evans Athletic Complex, including high jump pits from the neighboring track. The players just rarely will hit each other.

“We are very careful and cautious as it is anyway because we don’t have 100 guys on our team,” Kopachy said. “We really save our full-contact period for the last one of the day. It might be 15 minutes, and there are some days we don’t even do that.”

The new regulations also pertain to practices during the regular season. Full contact can only be done two days per week and never for more than 30 minutes per day.

Conley and his coaching staff reviewed practice plans from a season ago, and he also discussed schedules with coaches from other schools. Conley said he does not expect coaching staffs to be forced to make many changes.

“If you are missing tackles, it is not usually the physicality your kids are putting forth in practice,” Conley said. “It is some sort of technique. It should build confidence in our players that they know what they are doing. A more confident player is a stronger player and is a faster player.”

Lakewood has more than 60 players in the four high school grades, up from 44 a season ago, but depth still will be an issue.

Kopachy said he is concerned the regulations might be an overreaction to media reports. Kopachy added better education for coaches on proper technique would be more beneficial.

Several of the area schools follow the USA Football Heads Up initiative, which teaches proper tackling fundamentals.

“I don’t think that rule is the answer even though we already kind of do that,” Kopachy said. “I think just better coaching will help concussions. … We have to be teaching tackling every day with proper techniques.”

ksnyder@newarkadvocate.com

740-328-8556

Twitter: @newarkurt