New Texas Heat Rules Protect Football Players and Marching Bands

If you've spent any time outside around Abilene and West Texas lately, you already know how brutal the heat has been.

That's why new mandatory heat rules for Texas high schools couldn't have arrived at a better time.

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Texas Schools Now Have Mandatory Heat Rules

Beginning August 1, the University Interscholastic League made its heat safety protocols mandatory for outdoor athletic and marching band activities.

Schools must now monitor the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature, or WBGT, which takes into account temperature, humidity, wind and direct sunlight.

Depending on the reading, schools may need to increase water and rest breaks, reduce equipment, shorten practices or stop outdoor activity altogether.

UIL also requires WBGT readings before practices and continued monitoring when heat levels reach certain thresholds. Schools must also have rapid-cooling procedures available when conditions become dangerous.

Technology Can Help Coaches Know When It's Too Hot

Recently, my longtime friend Ben Barkley from Texas State Technical College shared some of the tools being used to help monitor these conditions. Heat stress meters, including devices such as EXTECH Heat Stress WBGT (Wet Bulb Globe Temperature) Meter, can measure the environmental conditions around a practice field and provide a WBGT reading.

Photo by: Ben Barkley Marketing-TSTC/Canva

The meter doesn't diagnose an individual student with heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Coaches, trainers and band directors still have to watch students closely for warning signs.

But it gives them another important tool for knowing when conditions outside are becoming dangerous.

I've Been Out There in That Heat

This one hits home for me.

After I gave up on high school sports, I joined the marching band. I know exactly what it's like to put on a full band uniform and march across a football field when the temperature is pushing 100-plus degrees.

And there were times I was carrying a full-size tuba, which made marching in that kind of heat even more difficult.

Back then, we didn't think much about heat stroke or heat illness. We drank a lot of water, got back in formation, and marched.

I also remember times when a couple of girls passed out while we were marching or sitting in the bleachers.

Looking back, I'm glad schools know more today about just how dangerous extreme heat can be.

West Texas Heat Makes These Rules Important

I've experienced it recently, too.

I broadcast live at Potosi Live last week right through one of the hottest parts of the day, and the heat was brutal. This week I broadcast live at the Jaron's Hope Car Show, and thankfully the event was being held inside the air-conditioned Abilene Convention Center.

After the kind of heat we've had lately, I'm perfectly happy about that.

Texas football and marching band are traditions we love, but no practice, game or halftime performance is worth risking a child's health.

These new rules don't take anything away from those traditions. They give coaches, trainers and band directors better information and better tools to help keep Texas kids safe.

Read More: State Fair Of Texas 2026 Dates, Theme, And What's New In Dallas