Connecticut school sports heat policy
Connecticut’s CIAC recommends WBGT-based heat precautions in its medical handbook, which prints one activity table for the whole state. How to read these labels
- Association
- CIAC (Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference)
- Label
- WBGT recommended
- Reading it uses
- WBGT
- Statewide table
- Yes, shown below
- Last checked
- September 27, 2026
What CIAC’s document says
The state association recommends WBGT-based activity modification.
The zones here are CIAC’s own Cat 1 table (Medical Handbook, printed p. 25). CIAC prints its top band, “No outdoor workouts”, as “> 86.2”; this card starts it at 86.2 °F, a tenth of a degree earlier. CIAC’s table leaves a few readings in no band (76.1 to 76.2 °F, 84.1 °F and 86.1 to 86.2 °F). This card shows 86.2 °F in the top band, as above, and each of the others in the band below it.
- < 76.3°FNormal activity
Normal activities. Provide 3+ rest breaks per hour (≥3 min each); unlimited water.
- 76.3 to under 81.1°FUse discretion
Use discretion for intense or prolonged exercise; watch at-risk athletes. 3+ rest breaks/hour (≥4 min each).
- 81.1 to under 84.2°FReduced: cap 2 h
Cap practice at 2 hours. Football: helmet, shoulder pads, and shorts only (pads off for conditioning). 4+ rest breaks/hour (≥4 min).
- 84.2 to under 86.2°FLimited: cap 1 h
Cap practice at 1 hour. No protective equipment and no conditioning. ~20 min of rest breaks across the hour.
- ≥ 86.2°FCancel outdoor activity
No outdoor workouts: delay or cancel until the WBGT drops to a cooler level.
This is a plain-language summary to help you plan. It is not legal advice, and it is not the association’s document. Associations revise these policies often. Confirm what currently applies with your school, district or association.
What else to know
- CIAC’s recommended precautions include testing the air with a WBGT reading “prior to practice or game”, not only before practice.
- CIAC recommends “a minimum ten minute water break” for “every twenty minutes of heavy exercise in the heat”, taken in the shade, and says water “must be on the field and readily available to the athletes at all times”.
- For heat stroke, CIAC says ice-water immersion “should be your choice of cooling”, with a kiddy pool or large tub of water and ice on standby that “should be available at all practices and games”.
- Teams that meet hot weather mid-season, after travel or an unseasonably cool spell, “will not be environmentally fit”, CIAC says, so coaches should follow its recommendations and substitute more often during games.
How to read this
Each row is a range of WBGT readings, and every reading falls in exactly one row. A range like “76.3 to under 81.1°F” includes the first number and stops just below the second. The short activity notes in each row are a general guide, worded the same on every state page. CIAC’s document may word its limits differently or add rest breaks, equipment and water rules, so open it for the exact rules.
Before you rely on this
- This page summarizes CIAC’s document. It does not replace it. If they differ, go by the document and by the policy your school or league has adopted.
- Confirm what currently applies with your school, district or association. Many schools adopt their own version.
- Any WBGT number WetBulbTracker shows is a modeled estimate for planning, not an official reading. Where a policy calls for an on-site reading, that reading governs.
- This page does not replace an athletic trainer’s judgment.
Live heat readings in Connecticut
Suggest a correction
Associations update these documents, often before the fall season. If something here is wrong or out of date, send us a link to the current document and we will re-check it.
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