Coaches wary of air quality

Helena school administrators met Tuesday with Montana Department of Health and Human Services officials to decide how best to deal with the sports practices beginning this week considering the less-than-healthy air quality from wildfires burning around the state.

They decided to keep an eye on the sky.

“We are trying to come up with a way making sure our kids are safe during practices when smoke is in the air,” Jim Opitz, Helena School District activities director said.

A low-level inversion has trapped smoke just over the western valleys of the state, according to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, causing air quality to be unhealthy enough for “sensitive” people to limit prolonged exertion and urge them to stay inside if possible.

That advice is somewhat challenging for high school athletes when football practice begins at both public high schools Friday, and golf, cross country and volleyball practices start on Monday.

Opitz said the district will follow a visual procedure provided by DEQ in which the distance people can see is used to determine how healthy the air is.

For example, the air quality is considered good if visibility is 10 miles or more; it is considered unhealthy at 1.5 to 2.5 miles; and it is hazardous at 0.8 miles or less.

“The reality is we are going to have people all over (for practices) — at the airport, golf course, and both high schools — so, we are depending on this visual system of trying to keep track of air quality,” Opitz said.

Sheila Williams, volleyball coach at Helena High School, said even though her practices are mostly indoors, the poor air quality will still affect the team’s practices.

“We just have to make sure everything is locked up as far as doors,” Williams said. “It will be hot, because we won’t be able to have the doors open for a breeze.”

Williams said she will be particularly conscious of those athletes who are asthmatic because of the smokey air in Helena.

“We’re just going to have to monitor when we are going through our conditioning drills,” she said.

Opitz says he’ll be in touch with DPHHS twice a day to get advice as best he can about whether to practice outdoors, while making back-up plans for what can be done indoors.

“We may do some passive kinds of things outdoors and conditioning indoors where the air will be better,” he said. “We will do our best to take care of our kids and do it as prudently as possible.”

The challenge, Opitz said, is that the air quality changes hourly.

“It will be a trying experience to try to do the right thing at the right time,” he said.

One thing school districts can’t do is reduce the number of practices before the season begins, the Montana High School Association said Tuesday.

Aug. 18 is the first day golf competition can be held, if five practices have been completed.

Competition for football, volleyball, golf, soccer and cross country can begin on Aug. 24, provided 10 practices have been held, the MHSA said.

‘‘The legal ramifications of a waiver, which would occur because of the safety/health purposes of the practice rules, would be prohibitive,’’ said MHSA Executive Director Mark Beckman.

He said the fall sports season cannot be lengthened because it would overlap with the start of winter sports.

‘‘Any postponements, reschedulings or cancellations of contests must be arranged by the school involved,’’ Beckman said in a statement. ‘‘There is no rule that would prohibit two football games in a week.’’

The Associated Press contributed to this report.