Monday marked a special day on the sports calendar across the PIAA, as it was the first day that football programs could start their heat acclimatization period.

While the official practice schedule doesn’t start until August 16, this week’s prep work is geared as preseason camp for most programs since opening night of the season is less than three weeks away on August 27.

Players must get three days of practices under their belts before contact drills start next week, but going through week one activities is always a celebratory time on the calendar for teams heading into the season with optimism.

At Bethlehem Catholic, newly appointed head coach Kyle Haas, returns back at the school that he served as an interim coach back in 2016. While the faces have changed from the last time, the feeling of being back in the building and on the practice field remained the same.

“It’s great to be back and start football again,” Haas said. “It’s definitely different going from 2016 where I knew all the players to now, where you really don’t know many of the kids. We were in the weight room with them everyday in the offseason to build some of that rapport and we had a really good offseason, but now the real work starts.”

With Becahi’s workouts held in the morning, the hot and humid conditions were exactly what this week was made for.

“We gave the players off last week and told them to stay in shape and be ready coming into this week,” Haas said. “You could tell everyone didn’t listen because some guys struggled, but I like the leaders on this team and I know they’re going to get guys in line. We have four Saturday afternoon games this season, so we know we’re going to be playing in some warm weather. I think weather like this will only help them get better prepared.”

On the other side of town, Freedom is practicing in the evenings to help accommodate coaching schedules, but it doesn’t matter when the Pates get their time in. Head coach Jason Roeder has built one of the top programs in the area, as the Pates have played in four of the last five District 11 6A championships games.

That’s why day one of the heat acclimatization period is just a fancier way of calling it the start of the season.

“It’s a year round process for our guys,” Roeder said. “This was the first day of practice and we treat it like camp. With only one scrimmage we need every day and every rep for the guys to be ready.”

Both coaches acknowledged the normalcy surrounding this year’s start to the season compared to a year ago when the uncertainty with COVID hovered over them every day.

This year, even with the new concerns of the Delta variant, being back on the field with a full team was something to appreciate.

“It’s been pretty normal for us,” Haas said. “It’s nice to see the kids back working together. Last year, we had so many restrictions with how many guys could work out at a time, it made things difficult. It waned on the coaches. This year, so far, it’s normal.”

Roeder echoed similar sentiments, but hopes things don’t get worse.

“Our guys still social distance, but it’s business as usual for the most part,” he said. “We just hope it stays that way.”