New UIL heat guidelines in effect as football teams start practice across East Texas
UIL now mandating teams use Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) to measure heat and weather effects
TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - Monday is the first day of UIL football practice across the state. As teams lace up, they’re using new ways to measure how long they can practice and where.
The UIL now requires teams to use Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) as a measuring tool. WBGT uses humidity, sunlight, wind speed, and the actual temperature to create a reading of how the weather is affecting athletes.
“It’s the best way that we can describe how the temperature and the outside events that are happening, and what it’s doing to your body,” said Chapel Hill ISD head athletic trainer Steven Offield.
Different WGBT readings can lead to different levels of allowed outdoor practice time. For football players, it can mean not wearing pads when it gets above a certain temperature.
“We do half a practice in the morning, half a practice in the afternoon, and there’s only been two days where it actually would have affected us,” said Bullard head coach Colt Bradford. Bradford said they’ve been following Wet Bulb since 2023, when the UIL first recommended the change.
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