Heatstroke fatalities down in football.

• Position: Your Life - Report from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - Brief Article

For the second year in a row, researchers found no deaths due to heatstroke among young football players during the 2003 season, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study shows. Between 1995-2001, 21 players died from heatstroke.

"Again, this year, we have good news to report because we have been concerned about the heatstroke toll. Heat-related deaths in sports are almost entirely preventable," declares Frederick Mueller, chair of exercise and sport science in the College of Arts and Sciences. "When they happen, it means someone forgot to emphasize or practice what coaches and trainers have been told for years--players should get all the water they want in practice and have frequent cooling-off breaks to prevent these tragedies."

Three players died during 2003 as a direct result of injuries suffered on the field, including two in high school and one in youth football. Two fatalities came...