How St. Thomas High School Keeps Football Players Cool

We spent a day with the St. Thomas athletics team to see how they keep players safe and performing when the temperature climbs — through football practice, and a track season that ended with a Texas State title. Mike Netzel, Athletics Director, Chris Valdez, Athletic Trainer, and Nathan Labus, Track & Field Coach, walk us through how they integrated palm cooling with the Narwhals into their practice and game-day toolkit. Palm cooling is a highly effective body cooling technique that works because our palms, cheeks, and the soles of our feet contain arterio-venous anastomoses (AVAs) — special vessels that connect arteries directly to veins. When we get hot, these areas can see significantly more blood flow than other skin areas. Cooling them lets the body dump heat rapidly. The trick is that you can't hold ice: below ~50°F causes vasoconstriction and shuts the system down. The target is Cool-not-Cold, roughly 50–60°F (10–15°C). The Narwhals hold a surface temperature of ~55°F (13°C) for hours, even in extreme ambient heat. No moving parts, nothing to charge. They are easy to integrate into sideline cooling strategies for keeping athletes safe in the heat. #palmcooling #heat #cooling #football #athlete