Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Hosts First Annual Parent Athlete Symposium

Classrooms may still lie dormant, but courts and gyms across Mecklenburg County are buzzing as student-athletes train for the upcoming fall sports season.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Athletic Director Ericia Turner is making sure those student-athletes and their parents are prepared for what’s ahead this season… and beyond.

“I think our job as leaders, not only do I represent the students, but I represent the parents, as well as the educators… we have to educate everybody on the process,” says Turner.

She’s hosting a series of symposiums this year tackling issues from NIL and recruitment to physical, mental, and emotional health.

“I don’t want this to be a one-and-done, right? So, we want to do things throughout the year to provide resources for our parents.”

For organizer Kim Watts, this hits home. Her son has been playing football since he was five years old.

“So, for my son, and me, and my family, making sure that he’s taking what he needs to take, doing what he needs to do, so that when the time comes, he has options,” beams Watts. “He can choose where he wants to go versus having to wait for somebody to come and find him.”

Atrium Health was also well-represented – and for good reason. Every athletic trainer in the school district comes from the Charlotte-based network.

“You see me every day. You see us every day. We’re the person at practice,” says Atrium Health’s Katie Hanes-Romano.

“We see you before you get hurt, and then we’re with you when you are injured, and we take care of you through that recovery and back out onto the field.”

With some of the hottest air of the year around the corner, it’s down to these athletic trainers to make the call on whether or not it’s safe to practice outside.

Not only do athletic trainers in the district take care of student-athletes when they’re injured, but they also have the power to cancel or adjust practices when inclement weather strikes. Thunderstorms are usually what comes to mind when thinking about practice-cancelling weather, but extreme heat is just as much of an obstacle.

CMS doesn’t use temperature or heat index when measuring extreme heat. Instead, the district uses wet bulb globe temperature, or WBGT.

That’s because the “feels-like” temperature, or heat index, only factors in temperature and humidity.

WBGT factors temperature, humidity, wind speed, cloud cover, and sun angle into its calculations, giving decision-makers a true feel of what it’s like outside. That’s why it’s used by CMS, as well as the Carolina Panthers, the US Armed Forces, and by WeatherSTEM stations across the country, including the one at WCCB Charlotte.

You can learn more about the WBGT and why it’s used so widely here.