Klein Oak High School's freshmen football team has practiced outside only about 10 percent of the time this fall. Mandatory heat safety rules from the University Interscholastic League (UIL), effective Aug. 1, are the reason.

The rules require every UIL member school to measure the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) before outdoor practices and every 30 minutes during activity. The UIL had recommended WBGT monitoring since 2023. This year, the UIL Legislative Council made it mandatory after the UIL Medical Advisory Committee pushed for the change, according to the UIL's official heat-stress plan.

For the Houston area, classified as Class 3, the thresholds work like a ladder. Below 82 degrees, no changes are needed. Between 82 and 86.9, teams must take at least three four-minute rest breaks per hour and have a rapid cooling zone on site.

Above 87, practice is capped at two hours. Above 90, it drops to one hour and football players shed pads and helmets. At 92.1 or higher, practice moves indoors or gets canceled, Houston Public Media reported.

The National Weather Service puts the Houston area's average WBGT in August between 85 and 95 degrees. That means most early-season practices face some form of restriction.

The rules are reshaping daily schedules at Klein Oak. Coach CJ Ward told the Panther Press, the school's student newspaper, that his seventh-period freshmen squad gets outside once a week at most. Some game weeks, they never make it outdoors.

"[It's] hard to [get better] at football when you can't practice football," Ward said.

Klein ISD is supplying schools with temperature gauges to comply. Head athletic trainer Tyler Blackburn monitors conditions with a Kestrel unit, a handheld meter that reads the black globe temperature, wet bulb and wind speed. The district also partners with a weather company that sends text alerts to coaches.

Co-band director Kelsey Blanscet said the marching band received its own WBGT monitor so staff can take readings specific to their rehearsal site. That matters because the band rehearses on concrete in the bus lot, where surface heat adds to the ambient temperature.

When readings climb, Klein Oak football follows a step-down protocol. Players start in full pads, then remove shoulder pads, then go to helmets only. In the worst heat, they move entirely indoors. Junior varsity defensive lineman Philip Hawkins said the farthest his team has had to go so far is helmets only.

Head football coach and campus athletic director Brandon Carpenter said planning around the rules requires flexibility. He described building daily practice plans around expected conditions, then adjusting mid-session when readings spike.

Blackburn said he has treated cases of heat exhaustion this fall, including students who were vomiting or dizzy. He traced many of those cases to students who skipped lunch or did not drink enough water. No severe heat-related incidents had occurred at Klein Oak as of Sept. 27.

The policy shift followed several heat-related tragedies across Texas. In August 2025, 15-year-old Preston Malone III, a sophomore JV football player at Lancaster Early College High School, died from exertional heat stroke after collapsing during practice, Fox 4 reported. Texas joins at least 17 other states requiring WBGT-guided practices.

In an Aug. 3 report by Houston Public Media, UIL Executive Director Jamey Harrison called the rule "the national gold standard for keeping kids safe when working in the heat."

The rules apply to practices, not games. The UIL noted that the vast majority of heat-related incidents over the past 20 years have occurred during practices.