Evergreen Valley Highschool has a prestigious cross country and track program, and the hard-working athletes who help maintain this program are met with the same problem every year: the heat. Especially during the summer where our afternoon practices can reach 90°F or higher, many athletes feel the symptoms of fainting, dehydration, overheating, and dizziness. To combat this, male athletes used to be able to take off their shirts on campus and run shirtless, which helped reduce heat stress and made training safer and more manageable. Recently, we had this ability prohibited after a concern was raised about appropriateness on campus. Since then, athletes have been required to keep their shirts on during runs, even on extremely hot days. This has received a significant amount of negative feedback from the team. Athletes who get caught breaking this rule are faced with severe warnings and can face removal from the team. An athlete should not have to face high temperatures while wearing an extra layer and feeling the pressure of potentially being cut. Additionally, other sports clubs at our school are permitted to practice without shirts, raising the question of consistency in policy across all athletic programs. We respectfully ask you to sign this petition to help our athletes have a cooler and safer summer. Thank you.