New CIF rule limits practices to 18 hours per week
High school sports have become a topic of major debate. Debaters think that students focus too much on the sport or sports they are involved in. Practice has recently become a concern, because of how many practice related injuries have occurred in major professional sports.
The CIF had player safety in mind when it issued Bylaw 506 on May 2, which took effect July 1. Bylaw 506, limits practice of high school sports to 18 hours a week.
Practice is a very broad term. To the CIF practice includes any school, team, or individual activity organized by the coach intended to maintain or improve a student-athletes skill proficiency in a sport.
This includes games, film review or watching video of a previous performance or a team they will face previous performances, and any team workout implicitly or explicitly required by the coach.
Andrew Mason, senior, played basketball his past three years with the Panthers and is excited to play Varsity this year. Mason said, “Many times last year the varsity team came close to practicing 18 hours in a week…”, he continued, “It’s going to be tough, but if we value every second we have while at practice, it’s definitely do-able.”
Though most believe this rule is a step in the right direction, some think this rule is, “dumb.” Tyler Hwang, sophomore, is the quarterback for the JV Football team. Hwang felt like his team, “…wasn’t as prepared as we should have been…” Although Hwang thought his team, “…made too many mistakes in the first game.” Those mistakes did not have too much of an impact with a 42-7 victory over Birmingham High School.
Most athletes believe that this rule will not have much of an affect on how their teams will prepare. Kayla Overbeck, junior, plays both Varsity Girl’s Volleyball and Varsity Girl’s Basketball. Overbeck feels it will not impact either of her sports.
Overbeck said about volleyball, “It didn’t affect us at all,” she continued, “…we had the same amount of practice as last year.” As for basketball, she does not know for sure how it will affect their schedule. Overbeck said, “…we do weekend practices sometimes, along with week-long practices, so that might conflict with the new rule and we might need to reduce practice.” But Overbeck is confident, “knowing my coach, Darren Burge, he is all over it and will know exactly what to do.”
Safety for athletes has become an enormous concern the past few years. CIF Bylaw 506, will make sure high school athletes are not over-worked to the point of injury.
Coaches at NPHS are known for their great respect of the athletes they are in charge of, and keeping practice hours limited to ensure a safe environment.While there may be issues at other schools, it does not seem like it will cause a problem here.
