MINNEAPOLIS — The first day of camp for the University of Minnesota Marching Band usually includes an afternoon practice on field at Huntington Bank Stadium, but this year that rite of passage took a left turn.
The band moved some small group activities inside, and the large practice was moved into the shade outside the stadium.
"There's zero shade (on the field) and the turf just radiates that heat back at us," said Marching Band Director Betsy McCann.
Rubber pellets in the stadium's field turf, create that radiating heat issue and University of Minnesota Athletics have set thresholds for outdoor practice time based on WetBulb Globe Temperature, which measures heat stress in direct sun by taking into account temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle and cloud cover.
Before noon on Tuesday, that heat stress reading on the field was already above 88 degrees.
"Once it reaches 90 and above, everyone should be moving inside," said Angel Enhaynes, a junior member of the Marching Band Field Crew.
By the time practice was scheduled to begin, it had far surpassed that.
"This is hotter than we're used to," McCann said. "For a day like today, we know it's going to be too hot. We know we can't be out there."
Even with the practice moved into the shade, practice was shortened, plenty of water was on hand, and the field crew was monitoring band members.
"If they personally need to step out at any point, they can do that," McCann said. "Nobody needs to stay in their rank if they're not feeling good."
Erdahl: "It's the first day today, so you also don't know where the conditioning levels are at."
McCann: "Nope, not at all, the good news is it's literally the first day, so everything we teach in our afternoon marching session, we don't move. There's no marching."
Unfortunately, the heat isn't going anywhere. With temperatures also forecast to exceed safe levels on the field on Wednesday, the band has a different set of contingency plans.
"The Gophers Athletics practice facility has space," McCann said. "There's a couple indoor fields over there. We like using the football field because it obviously has the yard lines like we need. So football gets first dibs, but tomorrow, we'll be over at the indoor, air conditioned facility. Thank goodness."
She's not the only one relieved.
"We have a group of about 100 rookies this year, so there's a big learning curve involved," said Kindra Peterson, a senior trombone player who is also responsible for leading some of the beginning drills. "The beauty of our marching style is that we kind of start from the ground up."
But there is still a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of time.
"We have 320 students and we have to have two shows memorized and on the field a week from Thursday," McCann said. "So time is of the essence for sure, but if we have to shorten practice because it's too hot, we're not going to make people sick."
If needed, they're even prepared to shorten the uniforms.
"You know, if it's still overly hot with the first game, we'll wear the polo shirts instead of the uniforms," she said. "We'll do what we've got to do to keep everybody healthy."
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