Next week is an important week for student athletes around the state.

Family week, or dead week as many refer to it, is one week in between the end of the summer sports season, and the beginning of the fall sports season, where no team activities can take place, and school facilities are not allowed to be open for anything that would be team related. West Central Valley Athletic Director Jim Lindsay says that it’s something that the state started in the last few years to make sure that student athletes get a chance at some time off, especially for those that are multi-sport athletes. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio the importance of having this time off.

“It gives a chance for families, they have a set week for vacation, and coaches too. All the families, athletes, coaches, all their families, you’ve got that set time, you know that week you’re going to have off. So that’s kind of nice to know that you’ve got that guaranteed week off, and if you have high school kids, they’re not going to miss anything. Coaches, you’re not going to miss anything either. So that’s kind of the importance of it, and that’s kind of why I like it too.”

Lindsay explains that when it was first implemented, he and other coaches just kind of thought “Whatever,” but that now he sees dead week as something beneficial to the children. He adds that it also gives schools some time to do some work to their athletic facilities, and not have to worry about working around athletic schedules.