The nation’s largest wildfire, the Soda Fire on the Idaho-Oregon border, is already having an impact on the high school sports season in Idaho.
As reported by Boise NBC affiliate KTVB, the rapid spread of the Soda Fire along the Idaho border is leaving some coaches with a difficult decision between practicing in borderline dangerous conditions or sacrificing readiness for the forthcoming season. The Idaho High School Activities Association does not have formal standards regarding adjusting training regimens during dangerous wild fire season. Instead, it is left up to coaches to determine how their players should exercise during sub-optimal air conditions.
That room for variance has led to very different approaches from difference coaches. Skyview head football coach David Young said he was limiting the amount of running and conditioning performed by his players, with a particular focus on players who suffer from asthma. Another football coach, Caldwell’s Zach McGee, said that working through the tough conditions was all about increased monitoring.
“We are closely monitoring kids,” McGee told KTVB. “We have our athletic trainer on the DEQ real time site monitoring and will be off the field if the report is high orange or red.”
For now, most programs seem to be braving the inflated temperatures and ashy air to get in their training work. If the fire continues to burn apace, that may not be continue for much longer.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
Soda Fire affecting start of school sports in Idaho