Inservice pushes some first full-pad practices for Jackson area teams to afternoon

As many teams opened the first day of practice in full pads early on Monday morning, some teams waited until the afternoon.

A big reason for this was inservice for teachers, and the other reason was to begin the routine that teams will be in with school starting.

"One reason for us is that we start inservice for teachers this week," Huntingdon coach Eric Swenson said. "All of the coaches will be there. The second reason is to get our guys back in routine. Next week, they will be practicing in the afternoon because of school. So we want them out there at 5 o'clock like they will be then."

For a team like Scotts Hill with two coaches to the school system, inservice is necessary to get the new coaches ready for the upcoming school year.

"It was all about the inservice, so to keep it consistent all week, we had to go in the afternoon," Scotts Hill coach Daniel Duncan said. "There was no need for one day to have practice in the morning."

Scotts Hill was set for a 1:30 p.m. start to practice on Monday, while South Side went with the same time as when school will let out beginning in August.

"That is when we will be practicing after school, so we want to make it as realistic as possible for that early part of the season," Reeder said. "I don't want our first time to practice at 2:30 p.m. be the week leading up to the jamboree or when we are playing our first game."

Other teams went later on Monday like Huntingdon starting at 4 p.m. as the sun started to go behind the trees or Chester County, who started at 5:30 p.m. And most of these practice times started with a period of workouts in the weight room.

"There is always worries about the heat index," Duncan said. "That is why we are working out first to try to allow the heat index to go down. If the heat index is too much, we will stay in the field house."

The heat index was much higher last week in West Tennessee, but the rain that fell in the area on Sunday night helped to keep temperatures down on Monday.

"Last week, we went at 8 in the morning because of the heat," Swenson said. "If we get there this week and the heat index is high, we will just hang out until time to go practice. This week is supposed to be a little cooler."

Reach Michael Odom at michodom@jacksonsun.com or 731-425-9754. Follow him on Twitter @JSWriterMichael.