Hawaii school sports heat policy
HHSAA’s heat policy is written as a requirement for practices, not games, and lets each school pick either a WBGT chart or a heat-index chart. How to read these labels
- Association
- HHSAA (Hawaii High School Athletic Association)
- Label
- Required: WBGT or heat index
- Reading it uses
- WBGT or heat index
- Statewide table
- Yes, shown below
- Last checked
- September 29, 2026
What HHSAA’s document says
The policy cited below is written as a requirement.
HHSAA lets each school choose its instrument: “each school may choose one of the following charts to determine practice modifications or cancellations”. So a school may be working from a heat-index chart rather than the WBGT one shown here. Enforcement sits with the school: “Administrators shall enforce if temperatures are in danger zones” and “Coaches may not overrule the modifications.” The policy applies to practices and scrimmages but not to games, and HHSAA’s own edition still prints “Penalties and/or Sanctions TBD”.
- < 82°FNormal activity
Normal activities. Provide 3+ rest breaks per hour (≥3 min each); unlimited water.
- 82 to under 87°FUse discretion
Use discretion for intense or prolonged exercise; watch at-risk athletes. 3+ rest breaks/hour (≥4 min each).
- 87 to under 90°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).
- 90 to under 92.1°FLimited: cap 1 h
Cap practice at 1 hour. No protective equipment and no conditioning. ~20 min of rest breaks across the hour.
- ≥ 92.1°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
- HHSAA’s policy gives every athlete in its sports a 14-calendar-day heat acclimatization period, with one practice a day of no more than three hours for the first five days. An athlete who misses a day “must restart their heat acclimatization period from the day they missed”.
- Each school designates the person who takes the readings, and the school’s designee tells coaches which modifications or cancellations apply. HHSAA says readings are needed before practice, and may be needed again if it gets hotter during practice.
- Every year, HHSAA’s policy has coaches attend an HHSAA-approved educational session, watch its heat acclimatization video at the annual coaches’ meeting, or take the NFHS online Heat Illness Prevention course.
How to read this
Each row is a range of WBGT readings, and every reading falls in exactly one row. A range like “82 to under 87°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. HHSAA’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 HHSAA’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 Hawaii
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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