The Preseason WBGT Playbook for UIL 2025: Webinar for Athletic Trainers

Perry Weather’s platform automatically connects you to the nearest available station in our network—what’s called a mesonet (a network of weather stations).

In Texas, we have over 500–600 stations equipped with full globe WBGT sensors spread across schools, cities, parks, private companies, golf courses, and other partners. When you travel, your device uses GPS to locate the closest Perry Weather station—often within a mile, even if your host school doesn’t have one installed.

This data updates every five minutes and comes from stations equipped with the proper instrumentation for accurate WBGT readings. Because Perry Weather is headquartered in Dallas and has deep roots in Texas, there’s a high likelihood that if you’re traveling anywhere in the state, you’ll have access to a nearby Perry Weather station for reliable readings.

The UIL divides WBGT zones—green, yellow, orange, red, and black—into three classes based largely on geography and athlete acclimatization.

Texas is vast, and conditions vary greatly from region to region. Most of the state falls into Class 3, which allows slightly more leeway in heat and humidity restrictions because athletes in these areas are generally more acclimated to hot, humid conditions. They’ve grown up in it, spend more time outdoors, and their bodies are better adapted to handle heat stress.

In contrast, Class 2 (and Class 1 in other states) applies to regions where athletes aren’t as accustomed to extreme heat and humidity. Their bodies may not handle heat stress as well, so the guidelines are more restrictive to ensure safety.

While this could easily turn into a geography lesson—covering differences in terrain, atmosphere, and climate—the bottom line is that UIL policy takes into account both the environmental conditions of the region and how well athletes are adapted to them.

UIL WBGT zones—green, yellow, orange, red, and black—each come with specific activity guidelines and required modifications. These are especially relevant for football because of the added heat burden from equipment, but they apply to all outdoor sports.

Here’s how to approach them:

• Green Zone – Normal activity levels, but students should still receive regular rest and hydration breaks.

• Yellow Zone – Continue full activity but monitor closely. Provide frequent water breaks and watch for signs of heat stress. Coaches should avoid outdated practices like withholding water.

• Orange Zone (Class 3: ~87–90°F WBGT) – Practices limited to 2 hours, helmets and shoulder pads only (“half shell”), and 4-minute breaks at regular intervals. Breaks mean a complete pause—no drills or activity.

• Red Zone (Class 3: ~90.1–92°F WBGT) – Practices limited to 1 hour, with 20 minutes of complete rest (no equipment, no activity).

• Black Zone (92.1°F WBGT and above) – All outdoor activities are stopped. Treat this like a lightning delay—it’s a life-threatening condition.

Key tips:

• Don’t rely on memory—keep a quick-reference chart on your phone.

• Follow the UIL policy exactly; it’s designed to remove guesswork.

• Remember that the “break” times are non-negotiable and must be true rest periods.

The start of football season is one of the highest-risk times for heat-related illness. Many athletes come into preseason from a summer of air-conditioned downtime, less-than-ideal diets, and minimal outdoor activity. Jumping straight into high-intensity workouts in extreme heat can be a shock to the system.

Here’s how athletic trainers can approach it:

• Start slow. The UIL mandates an acclimation period:

  • Days 1–2: Helmets only.

  • Days 3–4: Helmets, shoulder pads, and shorts (“half shell”).

  • Day 5 onward: Full pads.
    This gradual increase helps athletes adjust both to the heat and the physical demands of practice.

• Adjust for prior exposure. Athletes who haven’t been outdoors much need extra care. Consider keeping early practices in green or yellow WBGT zones for the first several days, even if later in the season you’ll face orange or red conditions.

• Plan for game conditions. UIL WBGT zones apply to practices, but game-day recommendations differ—heat is monitored, not restricted. Exposing athletes to some controlled heat stress during practice helps prepare them for the hotter conditions they may encounter in a game.

• Modify schedules when needed. If possible, hold practices in the morning or cooler parts of the day to reduce continuous high-heat exposure. Avoid stacking multiple orange or red days early in the season.

• Prioritize quality over quantity. A shorter, focused practice with a few excellent reps is more valuable than a longer session filled with fatigued, sloppy reps—especially in the heat.

From an athletic trainer’s perspective:
Managing WBGT is a constant, all-day process — starting with checking forecasts the day before, coordinating with coaches, and planning padded drills early if conditions may worsen. Afternoon practices are more likely to shift zones, so flexibility is key. Continuous monitoring during practice ensures quick adjustments when thresholds are crossed.

Success depends on communication: bringing coaches solutions (not just problems), adjusting schedules for athlete safety, and keeping all stakeholders informed while still aiming for quality, productive practices.<!– wp:quote –>
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<p>As Cody puts it: “All of this change has got one thing in mind — keeping kids safe.”</p>
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Handheld WBGT devices require significant manual work:

• They must acclimate for at least 30 minutes before providing accurate readings, which means setting them up well in advance.

• Athletic trainers have to take and log readings every 30 minutes, track zone changes, and communicate adjustments to multiple teams and coaches.

• Smaller, non-standard black globes on some handhelds heat and cool faster than the human body, leading to less accurate results.

• Communication is a constant challenge, especially for trainers managing hundreds of athletes across multiple facilities.

Perry Weather’s on-site WBGT stations automate nearly all of this:

• Devices stay outside 24/7, eliminating acclimation delays.

• Continuous monitoring and automatic logging remove the need for manual checks.

• The platform applies UIL thresholds for your region and sends instant, custom alerts with clear instructions—e.g., “In red: remove pads, limit practice to 1 hour.”

• Push notifications go out district-wide to all designated staff, reducing the burden on trainers to relay urgent updates.

For large schools, this means faster, more accurate decisions, less time spent chasing readings, and reliable communication—allowing athletic trainers to focus on athlete care instead of data gathering and message delivery.

Cody Jenschke recommends one central WBGT station per campus—at least for compact facilities like Flower Mound High School. Treating the entire campus as one “global unit” keeps rules consistent and avoids confusion, especially among coaches.

With multiple devices, you risk conflicting readings—e.g., baseball in orange while football is in red—which creates communication headaches and potential disputes (“Why can they practice but we can’t?”). A single station simplifies policy enforcement, ensures fairness, and makes it clear to all coaches and athletes what’s allowed.

From a feasibility standpoint, monitoring multiple practice areas would mean:

• Buying and maintaining multiple WBGT devices

• Assigning staff to each unit

• Repeating all the UIL compliance steps for each location

This is impractical for most schools. The goal is to measure conditions holistically, keep athletes safe, and run the longest, most productive practices possible under the same environmental guidelines.

An exception: if a school has widely separated facilities—like a football stadium far from other fields—and dedicated staff at each location, multiple stations can make sense. But for most campuses, one global unit keeps things simple, consistent, and easier to manage.