Jul 16, 2015 2 min read

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Aiming to reduce the risk of concussions and head injuries in high school football, the Ohio High School Athletic Commission’s board of directors voted unanimously to limit full-contact drills during practices.

According to the Associated Press, the changes were recommended by the National Federation of High School Associations’ concussion task force. Under the new guidelines, full-contact is allowed after a five-day adjustment period during preseason practice and is only permitted during one session of two-a-day preseason practices to give players recovery time. It’s similar to Pennsylvania, which instituated a heat acclimation period.

The changes also limit players to 30 minutes of full-contact practice per day and 60 minutes per week during the regular season, and the changes are effective immediately.

“These regulations are being put into place for the safety of our student athletes, and it is incumbent on coaches to monitor the contact in their practices,” OHSAA commissioner Dan Ross said. “Our coaches are educators and leaders. They want what’s best for the kids, and these regulations are in line with these safety recommendations.”

It’s an ambitious effort that is necessary, but will there be any oversight? History tells us that coaches will sneak in a scrimmage or an extra contact practice if they believe no one will notice. This is going to be very difficult to regulate, counting on coaches to make the right decision. Preseason practices are usually not attended by school administrators, so if coaches do have illegal contact during practices, no one would find out unless a player tells a parent.

Contact during the regular-season practcies should be examined further. Some teams’ seasons can last longer than a college football program if a team reaches the state championship game.

As the concussion debate continues to heat up, more states will make policy adjustments regarding how coaches and their teams run practices. Whether or not those rules are followed is a different story.