Massachusetts MIAA WBGT Policy

The MIAA runs one statewide heat policy across every sport, and its thresholds sit lower than most: outdoor activity stops in the 86s, where Georgia's black flag does not begin until the 92s. Every activity needs a WBGT reading taken on site.

Activity guidelines by WBGT (°F)

WBGT (°F)Required modifications
GREEN Below 76°F
  • Normal activities.
  • At least 3 separate rest breaks each hour, minimum 3 min each.
YELLOW 76.1-81.0°F
  • Use discretion for intense or prolonged exercise; watch at-risk participants closely.
  • At least 3 separate rest breaks each hour, minimum 4 min each.
ORANGE 81.1-84.0°F
  • Maximum practice time: 120 min.
  • At least 4 separate rest breaks each hour, minimum 4 min each.
  • Equipment-intensive sports: players should be restricted to a helmet, shoulder pads and shorts during activity; all protective equipment must be removed for conditioning.
RED 84.1-86.0°F
  • Maximum practice time: 60 min.
  • At least 20 min of rest breaks distributed through each hour.
  • No conditioning activities.
  • No protective equipment may be worn during activity, in any sport.
  • Ice water and towels should be available in the cooling zone, and cold-water immersion tubs available for any player showing signs of heat illness.
BLACK Above 86.1°F
  • No outdoor workouts. Delay practice until a cooler WBGT is reached.

Two things happen at the edges of this table. Where it names a temperature, this site gives that reading the band the table gives it — exactly 81.0 °F is yellow, because that is where the yellow row ends. Where the table skips a tenth between two rows, that tenth is unassigned and takes the hotter band, so a reading falling in a gap is never shown as the cooler flag.

Massachusetts is a device state

The policy's wording: "A scientifically approved instrument that measures Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) reading must be utilized at each activity to ensure that the written policy is being followed properly."

It reaches indoors as well: "For indoor events without climate control, a WBGT reading should be taken indoors. For climate-controlled indoor events, this measurement is unnecessary."

App and web estimates — including this site — are not the reading the MIAA asks for. Plan tomorrow's schedule here; take the reading at the activity, with a scientifically approved instrument.

Games: the table covers them too

The table's own column is headed "PRACTICE AND/OR COMPETITION ACTIVITY", so it governs games as well as practices. What MIAA does not say is how the practice time caps apply to a game — it gives a ceiling and the reasoning behind it: "Given the opportunity for pauses in play, breaks when changing possessions and valuable work to rest ratios, interscholastic competition can take place up to and including WBGT readings of 86.0°F."

And then the footnote under the table cuts the other way, which is the part worth reading twice: "If equipment modifications are necessary, no games should occur for that sport." Equipment modifications begin in the 81.1-84.0°F band — so from there upward an equipment-intensive sport should not be playing games at all, even though a practice in the same conditions may continue under the caps.

Cooling zone

Above a WBGT of 84 °F the policy calls for ice water and towels in the cooling zone, and for cold-water immersion tubs to be available for any player showing signs of heat illness.

Source

All thresholds and modification text above derive from the MIAA Heat Modification Policy, cross-checked on 2026-08-10. MIAA Heat Modification Policy (August 18, 2021; file amended 2022-09-01, as linked from MIAA Sports Medicine)

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