LAKE HAVASU CITY, ARIZ.
It doesn't rain much in Lake Havasu City. Andit's hot — perhaps the hottest prep footballlocale in the nation.
Graph courtesy of Mohave Community College
Players in Astoria deal with a much different climate than those at Lake Havasu City, Ariz. Rain is scarce in the town that sits along the Lake Havasu Reservoir at the California-Arizona border. While the city does not have the highest average temperature during the year (that honor belongs to Miami), it does have the highest number of "high temperature days" over the past decade.
From 1995 to 2005, Lake Havasu City had the highest temperature in the United States for 276 days. Death Valley had 803 days of the highest temperature, but it is not included here since no high school football teams play in Death Valley.
Staying cool isn't easy at Lake Havasu.
Photo courtesy of Scott Vestal - SV Action Photography
Tourism is the main industry in Lake Havasu City with visitors traveling to boat on the reservoir. In the winter, visitors escape the cold and snow to enjoy the milder Arizona climate.
For football players, however, beginning practice in the summer can mean average daily temperatures of close to 110 degrees. According to
Lake Havasu (Lake Havasu City, Ariz.) coach Karl Thompson, he has had to adjust schedules in order to get practices done.
"The first month of the season we have early morning or late evening practices to work around the heat," said Thompson. "Summer workouts help players acclimate to the hot temperatures."
Thompson also notes that the temperatures, and Lake Havasu's remote location, play a role in building a home-field advantage.
"We are an hour away from our closest division opponent," said Thompson. "Teams traveling to us seem to have trouble with travel and change to their daily routine. Many teams, especially from the northern part of the state, have trouble with the heat at the beginning of the season."
Like Astoria, however, Lake Havasu has no trouble putting fans in the stands despite the heat.
"The community packs the stands on Friday night and students take a lot of pride in being a Knight," said Thompson. "We are coming off a 10-2 season and captured a region title for the first time in 26 years. The players and coaches have invested a large amount of time to build the program."
From hot, hot heat to brrrrrr (Continue reading)
