North Carolina school sports heat policy
NCHSAA’s handbook sets its own WBGT activity chart, written as a requirement: at the top level practice stops, but games may go on with water breaks. How to read these labels
- Association
- NCHSAA (North Carolina High School Athletic Association)
- Label
- WBGT required
- Reading it uses
- WBGT
- Statewide table
- Yes, shown below
- Last checked
- September 5, 2026
What NCHSAA’s document says
The policy cited below is written as a requirement.
NCHSAA’s handbook writes taking the reading as advice and the response to it as a requirement. The reading: “WBGT should be measured”. The response, at 90 or above: “Suspend all practices”, with competition continuing only under mandatory breaks set by the gameday administrator. The zones here are NCHSAA’s own published numbers, which follow no regional model.
- < 80°FNormal activity
Normal activities. Provide 3+ rest breaks per hour (≥3 min each); unlimited water.
- 80 to under 85°FUse discretion
Use discretion for intense or prolonged exercise; watch at-risk athletes. 3+ rest breaks/hour (≥4 min each).
- 85 to under 88°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).
- 88 to under 90°FLimited: cap 1 h
Cap practice at 1 hour. No protective equipment and no conditioning. ~20 min of rest breaks across the hour.
- ≥ 90°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
- Below the top band, NCHSAA’s chart schedules a five-minute water and rest break, every 30 minutes at the lowest level and every 15 minutes in the fourth band. In the third and fourth bands it also says “Have cold or ice immersion pool on site for practice.”
- NCHSAA’s handbook also says “All schools should have a heat illness prevention and management policy for all sanctioned activities and this policy must be followed”, so ask your school for its own policy.
- For football, §2.3.4 sets a preseason acclimatization schedule: no more than one practice a day on days 1 to 5, a helmet only on days 1 and 2, helmets and shoulder pads on days 3 to 5, and full equipment and contact from day 6.
- An older 2015 NCHSAA heat chart may still turn up online. Its numbers match the current chart, but its instructions do not, including what happens to games at the top level, so go by the 2026-27 handbook.
How to read this
Each row is a range of WBGT readings, and every reading falls in exactly one row. A range like “80 to under 85°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. NCHSAA’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 NCHSAA’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 North Carolina
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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