Football season has been a long time coming for coaches and players across Limestone County. And for many of them, the thought of helmets and shoulder pads crashing together brings a bit of excitement – especially with prep season knocking on the door.

On Monday, teams will take to the field for the first official day of football practice. For the first three days, teams will practice in shorts and helmets followed by full gear beginning on Thursday.

“We’re very excited about getting the season underway,” West Limestone coach David Arnsparger said. “The players have really worked hard this summer and are excited about being able to put football pads on again.”

Arnsparger added that his team has done a number of things throughout the summer to ensure that they were ready for what the first day brought. On top of spending time in the weight room, the team also participated in a speed school, did various change-of-direction drills and was a part of a passing practice with Elkmont and Ardmore.

“Attendance has been great,” Arnsparger said. “They’ve been real dedicated. They know what it takes to win.”

Clements head coach Barry Daniel and his team have spent most of their summer participating in 7-on-7 camps, two of which have been held at Clements. Daniel joked that it felt like they played as many games as it does to get to the Super Bowl.

“We definitely had our fair share of games this summer,” Daniel said. “We spend a lot of time in the weight room too, so we’ve had a busy summer. I’m looking forward to getting things under way. I’ve got a good group of guys coming back. They’re doing what we ask of them, and from a coaches standpoint, I don’t know that there is much more I could ask for.”

With heat indices forecasted to reach the 105 to 110 range for next week, Elkmont coach Don Jacobs plans to take precautions to overcome the extreme temperatures that usually go along with the first day of football practice.

“We make sure that we have water available the whole time the players are on the field,” Jacobs said. “I usually try to have about a 10-minute break where we go and get under a shade tree and hope there is a cool breeze blowing. We use that time to talk about something we’re doing at practice and to check on everybody and make sure that they’re OK.”

Tanner coach Laron White said he plans to do the same.

“We’re just going to make sure that they have plenty of water and give them breaks when they need them,” White said. “I hope that the work we did this summer has helped prepare them. We’re going to keep a close watch and monitor them to make sure they’re OK.”