Heat acclimation week in the PIAA is less about the perspiration and more about the preparation.

Sure, the players work up a healthy sweat, but Butler County coaches have found the week to be more beneficial for many other reasons.

“I kind of look at it like the beginning of football camp,” said Seneca Valley coach Ron Butschle, who is in the second year of his second stint as the Raiders' head football coach. “There's no contact, but you wear helmets and shoulder pads. It's really an extension of what we did all summer.

“It's kind of like dipping your toe into the pool,” he added. “It's good because you get everyone together with no contact for a week before you start banging each other around next week.”

Mars coach Scott Heinauer, who has been roaming the Planets' sideline and sweating it out with his players during the dog days of August for 26 seasons, values the extra week he gets with his full complement of players.

Summer programs are largely optional.

Heat acclimation week is not.

“It gives us a chance to get the kids a week early,” Heinauer said. “(Monday) we worked on offense. (Tuesday) we worked on defense. We'll work on special teams (Wednesday). It gives us a little jump.

“Kids have been coming all summer,” he added. “But you can't get all of them there all the time. Now it's different.”

The PIAA adopted its heat acclimation rule five years ago.

It mandates that every high school player must participate in five days of heat acclimation before camp starts.

Team may practice up to five hours a day, but must take a two-hour break between sessions.

Most Butler County coaches are going with just three hours a day, mostly in the morning.

“I still think you have to be careful,” said Slippery Rock High coach Larry Wendereusz. “You don't want to beat them up right now with a lot of running and conditioning in the heat. You need to prepare them to play football.

“Conditioning is still a goal; it's part of it,” Wendereusz added. “But you have to be smart when you're doing it.”

At Freeport, they take heat acclimation very seriously.

Water is readily available and the players are carefully observed.

Monday was a challenging day for most teams with temperatures in the upper 80s and with high humidity.

It was a stark contrast to the last two years when it was unseasonably cool for August.

“(Monday) was a little warm,” said Freeport coach John Gaillot. “We stress to the guys to stay hydrated.”

Gaillot also sees heat acclimation week as an extension to his summer program.

“We've been doing drills all summer and we still do them,” Gaillot said. “But this week is more of a practice.”

Teams have used this week to better discover their strengths and weakness and to put in basic offensive and defensive concepts.

Next week, when full camp starts Monday, is when that groundwork will be put to the test, coaches said.

“You're really honing in on individual skills this week,” Wendereusz said. “And you're really looking at, 'How are we going to do this? How are things going to look?'”

For first year Moniteau head coach Bob Rottman, heat acclimation week is a way for his team to acclimate to something else.

His coaching style.

That makes the time invaluable.

“I've been here as an assistant for a while, but now they can see and get used to what I'm going to be like as a head coach,” Rottman said. “How I may do things differently. It's very beneficial for that reason.”

Five years ago the PIAA adopted a policy that said all high school football players must go through a five-day heat acclimation period before regular practices.Following are the PIAA guidelines for heat acclimation week:- Heat acclimation must run five consecutive days.- The minimum amount of time for practice each day is three total hours.- The maximum amount of time for practice on days 1, 3 and 5 is five totals hours.- The maximum amount of time for practice on days 2 and 4 is three total hours.- If practices run a total of five hours on days 1, 3 and 5, there must be a two-hour rest period after three hours of practice prior to the additional two hours.- All students in grades 9-12 who may be rostered on the junior varsity or varsity team must participate.- All players are expected to participate in all five days of heat acclimation. However, players must participate in a minimum of three consecutive days to be considered as successfully completing heat acclimation.- Players must wear their helmet and shoulder pads. Full gear may not be worn until the first official day of fall sports (August 13).- Teams may not scrimmage or conduct inter-school practices during heat acclimation.