Two decisions get punted more than any other on a youth sports field: whether it’s too hot to keep going, and whether that flash means everyone goes inside. Most coaches make the call by feel instead of running the numbers.

Heat runs on WBGT, not the thermometer

A thermometer only reads air temperature, not humidity, not wind, not the sun beating straight down on a kid in full pads. Wet Bulb Globe Temperature folds all three in, which is why the American College of Sports Medicine, the NCAA, and the NFHS’s own Sports Medicine Advisory Committee all tell programs to run heat decisions off WBGT instead of a phone weather app.

Georgia’s high school association publishes the model most other states built a version of. Under 82 degrees WBGT, it’s a normal practice with three rest breaks an hour, and from 82 to 87 you watch at-risk players closely and stretch each break to four minutes.

Once WBGT hits 87, football drops to helmet, shoulder pads, and shorts, with practice capped at two hours. Two more degrees, 90 to 92, and all protective equipment comes off with a one-hour cap. Cross 92 and nobody practices outside, full stop.

Those exact numbers shift some by state and by how humid the region runs. Check your own league’s written heat policy for the cutoffs it actually enforces.

Above 86, ice towels and a cold-water tub belong at the rest area before anyone needs them, not after. Waiting until a kid is in trouble to go find one defeats the point.

Lightning runs on 30-30, not on how the sky looks

Count the seconds between the flash and the thunder. Thirty seconds or fewer means the strike landed within six miles, and six miles is the number that ends practice. Get the team into a hard-top car or a real building.

A dugout, a pop-up canopy, and a set of bleachers all fail as shelter, no matter how solid they look.

Wait at least 30 minutes after the last strike before anyone goes back out. A new strike inside that window resets the clock to zero, so one storm that keeps producing strikes can turn a 30-minute delay into an hour without a single person doing anything wrong.

The American Academy of Pediatrics tells coaches and officials to postpone or cancel outright once conditions worsen, rather than trying to finish the session first. The same instinct sits behind the WBGT chart: stop deciding in the moment and run the number instead.

Both rules exist for the same reason. They take the call off your gut and put it on a number you can check in five seconds.

Follow it and nobody can say you guessed wrong. Guess instead, and whatever happens next is on you.