As the weather warms up and spring starts to get in full bloom, it won’t be long now until Bainbridge High School’s football team puts the pads back on and gets ready for its May spring training session.

Earlier this year, the Georgia High School Association instituted new rules to make summer practices safer for high-school football players. Among those changes are the banning of three-a-day preseason practices, and practice in pads limited to three hours. In addition, each player must participate in five days of practices in only helmets, T-shirts and shorts, before switching to full pads in August. These practices are limited to only two hours and cannot begin before July 25.

Bainbridge Coach Ed Pilcher said that two high-school athletes in the state of Georgia died from heat-related causes in 2011, and that was “two too many.”

Pilcher is absolutely right, and we applaud the GHSA for stepping in and making things safer for students.