It's time for blue feet! Every year during the dog days of August I take off my shoes and begin lining the soccer field at the local high school where I coach. It's either blue feet or blue shoes minus the suede. After four hours of laying down blue paint my feet always end up looking Smurf-like. All across the Triangle the yearly ritual of local school sports is gearing up for a new season. But to a greater degree than other years, this year local schools are also worried about the safety of their athletes.

Last year, five student athletes died in North Carolina, including Chapel Hill High School football player Atlas Fraley. Just this past week, Michael White, a football player at Cary High School collapsed toward the end of scrimmage without a pulse. EMS responders used a defibrillator to revive him. At this writing, he is in fair condition.

School systems in the Triangle are responding to hot conditions in August to try to avoid dehydration among their athletes by informing and educating coaches and other school personnel about the dangers of hot days and physical exertion. This August I was informed by my school system to be careful of hot days and scheduling practices during the hottest hours of the day. I modified my practices by calling for frequent water breaks, focusing more on technical development with the ball instead of physical drills and holding coaching sessions in the shade. Soccer has an advantage over football in the heat because our players do not wear pads or helmets. But on days approaching 100 degrees coaches in every sport must be wary of putting too much stress on young athletes wanting to prove themselves during tryouts.

This year the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school system became the first in the Triangle to hire a full-time trainer focused solely on athletics. Many schools have teachers who are part-time trainers. The school system said the position was a move to increase safety at its sporting events and it was right to do so. Carrboro High school will now have a full-time licensed athletic trainer for its sports teams. The school had no trainer last year. And the school system plans to hire two more licensed full-time trainers for its two other schools. The Department of Public Instruction requires that every school have at least one certified first responder at each sporting event. Legislation was passed in 1997 to license athletic trainers but not require that all schools have them.

Having a full-time trainer on campus is a good idea despite the cost because many injuries happen during practices. Last year, one of my players broke his wrist from a fall and I had to take him to the hospital. Over the years, coaches pick up a lot of knowledge on how to treat injuries. I have seen and provided first aid to broken collarbones, torn ACLs, and head injuries. I have also been through several knee surgeries with kids and their families and know my way around an orthopedic clinic well. But there is no substitute for having a trained licensed professional make the call when an injury happens. This is especially true for head injuries.

All high schools should have at least a part-time trainer during sporting practices and events. And it would be great if school systems could plan on having a full-time trainer on campus. Given the school budget crunch this may not be on the minds of school boards and superintendents, but it is something to keep an eye on for the future. Student athletes work hard during August to make the team and they push their bodies. The last thing any system wants to see is a student athlete seriously injured.

There are a lot of rituals coaches go through at the start of every season. The one ritual we all don't want to go through is the one at the funeral home.