Megan Navarro
AUSTIN — The University Interscholastic League (UIL) is now requiring Texas schools to use WetBulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) readings to determine the safety of students during outdoor athletic and marching band activities. While some programs are having to shift how they conduct practice, school districts within Hays County have already been utilizing the readings.
UIL initially approved WBGT as the recommended forecast measurement to be used for monitoring environmental conditions during outdoor physical activities in 2023. Then, the Medical Advisory Committee recommended to the Legislative Council that the policies should become mandated, which is now the case beginning with the 2026-27 school year.
WetBulb Globe Temperature
The WBGT tool estimates the effect of temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and solar radiation, leading to a more comprehensive overview as compared to the weather app found on smartphones, explained Dr. Jaismeen Nijjar, head of emergency medicine at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Buda.
“ ... When you are in a high humidity area, your ability to sweat and evaporate that sweat is altered, so that more heavily impacts our body and our body's ability to cool down. The other thing that's important is how much direct sunlight is going on to you and how much sun is hitting you itself because that will also affect your body's ability to cool itself. So, beyond just the regular temperature itself, there's so many other factors,” Nijjar said. “These are those tools that implement those things that we kind of already know and feel, but then, help us figure out how we're going to react to that.”
Readings should be taken within 15 minutes before the start of outdoor activities and every 30 minutes throughout, according to UIL. This applies to all practices held outdoors, including covered pavilions, as well as indoor facilities that are not climate-controlled.
The following guidelines are now mandated by UIL — the values are WBGT measurements, not temperature or heat index.
• Class 3 at < 82.0 and Class 2 at < 79.7: Normal activities with at least three separate rest breaks each hour with a minimum duration of three minutes each during the workout.
• Class 3 at 82-86.9 and Class 2 at 79.7-84.6: Use discretion for intense or prolonged exercise. Schools should provide at least three separate rest breaks each hour with a minimum duration of four minutes each. A mandatory onsite rapid cooling zone is also required.
• Class 3 at 87-90 and Class 2 at 84.7-87.6: The maximum practice time is two hours. A mandatory onsite rapid cooling zone is also required.
- Football players are restricted to a helmet, shoulder pads and shorts during practice. If the WBGT rises to this level during practice, players may continue to workout wearing football pants without changing to shorts.
- All sports: Provide at least four separate rest breaks each hour with a minimum duration of four minutes each.
• Class 3 at 90.1-92 and Class 2 at 87.7-89.7: The maximum practice time is one hour. A mandatory onsite rapid cooling zone is also required.
- Football players: No protective equipment may be worn during practice and no conditioning activities
- All sports: There must be 20 minutes of rest breaks throughout the hour of practice.
• Class 3 at ≥ 92.1 and Class 2 at ≥ 89.8: No outdoor workouts and practices should be delayed until a cooler WBGT is reached.
Practice guidelines and limitations do not apply to UIL competitions, but it is recommended that schools monitor WBGT conditions before and during the game and use the appropriate emergency action plans for high temperature and humidity, according to the league’s website. Also, any contest played in WBGT of 79.7 in Class 2 or 82 in Class 3 degrees or higher must have a rapid cooling zone on site and available at all times.
Impact to local schools
Hays CISD started using WBGT during the 2023-24 school year, when it was first recommended by UIL. Prior to that, the district used the previous UIL guidelines, which were primarily based on the “feels like temperature,” calculated using the air temperature, humidity and wind speed, said chief communication officer Tim Savoy.
In doing so, Hays CISD moved all of the outdoor practices to the morning, instead of after school, at the middle school level. Athletic and marching band practice is every day, WBGT-permitting, Savoy said, with UIL limiting practice outside of the school day to a total of eight hours per week. However, there are no time limits for fine arts, other than, along with athletic teams, not being permitted to practice on Sundays — they can only travel on those days to games or performances if needed.
Along with following the WBGT requirements, coaches and instructors ensure that their students are staying safe in the Texas heat by doing the following: having periods of time for them to acclimate to being outside; providing plenty of breaks and hydration; and ensuring dedicated athletic trainers, position coaches and other staff are on standby to help, according to Savoy.
New this year, the Multipurpose Activity Centers have “made a tremendous difference in helping to keep the athletes and artists cool,” Savoy shared.
These facilities include a covered and lighted space for education, rehearsals and performances at Hays, Lehman and Johnson high schools; they are shared by athletics and fine arts, based on schedules worked out at each campus.
“[On] Aug. 7 at Hays High School at 3:55 p.m., the wet bulb temperature on the grass field outside of the Multipurpose Activity Center was 94, which would have required practice to be canceled. Inside the Multipurpose Activity Center, the wet bulb temperature was 82, which allowed practice to occur,” the chief communication director said.
At Dripping Springs ISD, the district started following the WGBT during 2024-2025, prior to the required implementation, but previously solely used Perry Weather, an on-site station that monitors real-time weather conditions, for a number of years.
“DSISD has been following the WBGT guidelines for a couple of years, so there was no impact to our procedures for the 2026-27 school year,” said DSISD communications specialist Blake Barington, who added that most programs practice daily during the week at varying times.
Athletics, specifically football, within Wimberley ISD, started using WBGT in the summer of 2023, when UIL made the recommendation, and the marching band implemented it in the protocol in 2025.
Prior to this, the programs monitored the air temperature, wherein the band, in particular, would limit outdoor practice time if it reached 100 degrees, said WISD communications director Allen Bruggman. Football practices are daily, up to eight hours per week, but generally, are no more than one hour and 45 minutes at a time; band practices three times a week for two and a half hours.
“Schedules for our activities have been modified in order to comply with the requirements. Our high school football practice has been moved to the mornings, which has forced junior high to practice at different times or to move to a different facility,” Bruggman explained. “Band has more inside rehearsals than normal. They set up three stations inside and divide the students into smaller groups to work on different skills when they're not able to be outside together as a full group. Additionally, band monitors the [WBGT measurements] before and during practices and while planning outside activities, so that students aren't placed in a situation that could potentially be dangerous.”
As the WBGT rises, multiple steps are required — most of which are already in place at all of WISD’s practices.
For example, once the rating exceeds 90.1, football is reduced to one-hour practices with no pads, with required breaks within that hour, while still maintaining cooling zones and ice water tub availability, Bruggman said.
“Our football program teaches students about hydration, rehydration and color of urine and what that means for their bodies. Students are given mandatory breaks. They have numerous opportunities to get water; our trainers always have water bottles with them as they circulate throughout the practice space and a cooler of cold towels is available at every practice,” he explained. “Also, for many years, [Wimberley High School] football has utilized cooling zones that have shade, misters and water available.”
Other outside activities, including band and tennis, are limited to one hour or less of being outside when the rating exceeds that. Band also has shade canopies in place that were donated by First Baptist Church Wimberley and cold snap towels donated by Wimberley Methodist Church, as well as misters and a student requirement of half-gallon jugs of water.
Heat illness
Heat exhaustion and stroke are on a spectrum of heat-related illnesses, Nijjar said, with the major difference being the latter adding in neurological deficits.
The doctor explained that heat exhaustion is “your body starting to tell you that something is happening, meaning that you are getting overheated and it’s going to be those first signs of that for athletes and a lot of younger and healthier people that are in school.”
With this, people will have excessive sweating, a feeling of incoordination and dizziness, as well as nausea, Nijjar said.
Then, when it gets to heat stroke, even if people might stop sweating, that could be a more dangerous sign, Nijjar explained; they may lose consciousness, get confused and not make sense anymore.
“If you're starting to recognize the signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke, the number one thing to do is stop that activity and get to a cooler place. If there isn't a place that you can go inside, go into a shaded area. If there's a place you can go inside, go inside. If there's water, any type of liquid, like cold liquid available, drink that liquid,” she said. “If you have the ability to do an ice immersion, do that. You have to get out of that environment and you have to stop that activity. If you're wearing a helmet, pads, heavy equipment, take that off. Allow your body to sweat and evaporate that sweat. If you have signs of heat stroke, altered mental status [or] any type of neurological deficit, you have to be seen in the emergency department or in a hospital setting immediately.”
Parents can help their students reduce the risk of heat-related illnesses by slowly helping prepare their body for being outside, ensuring they are getting adequate sleep and nutrition, as well as recovering afterwards, the doctor said.
“If you're starting to get symptoms of heat exhaustion [and] heat stroke, your body's telling you signs that it needs to rest. Listen to your body. Don't try to tough it out,” she said. “If you are seeing these signs, please seek help immediately or talk to your coach or your parents and get that looked at.”
To learn more about WBGT, visit www.uiltexas.org/health/info/heat-stress-and-athletic-participation.
DSISD parents can find more information on protocols at bit.ly/4g90Esj. Parents and families should also contact their respective school districts if they have questions on specific practices.
