With the new academic year underway, student-athletes in Texas are gearing up for fall sports amidst soaring temperatures. This raises an important question: what new measures are in place to ensure their safety in such extreme heat?
Student-Athletes Face Intense Heat
Across the nation, young athletes are preparing for the fall sports season during one of the hottest months of the year. Houston Public Media’s Bianca Seward provides insights into a newly implemented safety measure in Texas aimed at safeguarding these athletes from the heat.
For the North Forest varsity football team in Houston, the sweltering, humid afternoons typical of the region pose a significant challenge. One student described the heat as “horrible,” while another labeled it as “torture.”
Heat-Related Health Risks
According to the National Weather Service, August temperatures in Texas consistently reach the mid-90s. The Environmental Protection Agency reports that roughly 9,000 student-athletes are treated annually for heat-related illnesses. Dr. Sujit Iyer, a pediatric emergency medicine specialist at Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin, warns that August is particularly perilous for these young athletes, with heatstroke being a rare but often fatal condition.
“Although there’s only a few cases of heatstroke every year that makes the news, when those kids come in, they often die. Up to, like, 33% of them die.”
Dr. Iyer emphasizes the importance of acclimatization, advising athletes to heed their body’s signals and take breaks if they experience weakness, confusion, nausea, or dizziness.
Introducing the WBGT Standard
This year, Texas has introduced a new safety protocol involving the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) reading, a detailed measure of heat risk that considers factors like air temperature, humidity, wind speed, and cloud cover. Jamey Harrison, executive director of the University Interscholastic League, which oversees high school sports in Texas, calls this method the “national gold standard” for ensuring safety during heat exposure.
“Bottom line is this is the national gold standard for keeping kids safe when working in the heat.”
Texas now joins 17 other states in requiring WBGT readings, which guide coaches on when to alter or cancel outdoor practices. Brian Zettler, chairman of the board for the Texas State Athletic Trainers’ Association, notes that the approach to safeguarding student-athletes has evolved significantly with the growth of the athletic training profession.
“The evolution of the athletic training profession is by far the biggest difference.”
Zettler highlights that athletic trainers provide crucial expertise in monitoring athletes’ conditions, yet only 37% of public high schools have a full-time athletic trainer, according to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. In many smaller schools, this responsibility falls on the coaching staff, which can complicate their ability to manage practice and address medical concerns simultaneously.
“I think it’s more difficult when you’re the coach who’s trying to run a practice, who’s trying to kind of manage people and then you have somebody who has a complaint, right? And now you’re trying to triage that complaint to see if it’s something that needs more medical attention or if it’s something that just needs some rest.”
Notably, the new safety requirement applies solely to practice sessions, excluding game days, which can be equally grueling.
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