Wet fields raise injury risks for high school football players

WILTON, Iowa (KWQC) — Over the last 10 days, the Quad Cities have been drenched in rain, creating wet playing conditions for high school football teams.

Wet, muddy grass fields carry an added risk of injury for athletes, according to Wilton’s head football coach and athletic director Ryan Hetzler.

Injury risks on wet fields

Hetzler said players can be hurt when their feet slip on the wet ground.

“A kid goes to step in the ground and his foot slips and it just continues to go... we’ve seen some hamstring injuries, kind of that hamstring into the groin area... that’s what comes along with it,” Hetzler said.

Changes to practice

Hetzler said the team changes how it prepares for wet games, including simulating a wet game ball in practice.

“We will take a football and we’ll dump it into water and then give it to them to try to play with, just to try to simulate that really rainy, wet game,” Hetzler said.

Changes to gameday strategy

Hetzler said wet conditions can also change gameday play calls.

“Sometimes you’ll see us go under center where the quarterback will now take the ball directly from the center, which just is less risky to do and less risky of a play to turn the ball over,” Hetzler said.

A softer landing

Hetzler said wet grass fields can also provide a softer surface for players compared with turf.

“The ground is a lot more forgiving.” he said. “So it’s softer, you know, if you kind of get stuck and bent backwards a little bit, the ground gives a little bit more than like, let’s say when we’re playing on a turf field that doesn’t bend at all.”

Wilton is scheduled to host four more games next week.