How One State Is Fighting Heat-Related Deaths

Student-athletes begin practicing for the new football season during the peak of summer, exposing themselves to heat-related injuries.

But in one high school in Georgia—a state where football is king—players are experiencing fewer heat-related cramps for the first time in years. A combination of factors appear to be driving those positive outcomes, as summer turns fall, and playing conditions in the state and many parts of the country remain difficult.

In Franklin, Ga., Heard County High School built a shelter that’s six stories high and fully covers its football field. Students and staff refer to it as the pavilion, and it is also used for summer camp activities and other sports, such as marching band and softball practice, to provide shade and shelter from the hot Georgia sun, said Shane Lasseter, the school’s head football coach and athletic director.

The pavilion cost nearly $3.5 million and was finished in June 2024. Since then, Heard student-athletes have been able to practice and compete outside with some relief from enduring heat.

“I’ve never had a season where kids did not catch cramps,” said Lasseter. “People say, ‘well, maybe the kids aren’t in that good shape,’ but it’s really hard to maintain the hydration level you need whenever you’re practicing four times a week in the 100-degree heat. … I believe that [the pavilion] has made a huge difference.”

Students’ safety in the heat is a growing concern across the nation, especially as temperatures continue to rise and break records due to climate change. There were 67 sports-related deaths among secondary school students as a result of heat stroke between July 1982 and June 2022, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research database. An analysis of that data shows that 66 deaths were of males, ages 13 to 18 years, most of whom played football.

The University of Connecticut’s Korey Stringer Institute releases an annual ranking that assesses how states fare when it comes to high school sports safety policies. While Georgia is ranked No. 1 in 2024’s ranking—as it meets 93.7% of the institute’s criteria—this wasn’t always the case.

Nearly a decade ago, Georgia led the country in heat-related deaths of student-athletes. How has the state improved its standing in promoting heat-related safety in school sports since then?

Protecting student-athletes from the heat has been a focus for educators and researchers in the state for some time now. In 2008, researchers in Georgia conducted two three-year studies to see the differences in health outcomes when high schools modified football practices on extremely hot days—typically anywhere above 82 degrees Fahrenheit—as measured by a wet bulb globe temperature tool (WBGT)—versus when they carried on as usual. Those modifications affected the duration of practice and the equipment use.

The temperature tool accounts for three different temperature measurements—heat radiation, air conditioning, and ambient air—capturing factors that affect heat stress, said Andrew Grundstein, a professor in the University of Georgia’s geography department and one of the researchers who influenced the state’s heat policy.

This allowed researchers to determine the most effective ways to reduce heat-related illnesses, said Rebecca Stearns, chief operating officer at the Korey Stringer Institute. Stringer was a Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle who died from exertional heatstroke complications suffered during a Minnesota Vikings training camp practice in extreme heat in 2001.

The schools that modified their football practices during extremely hot days saw a reduction in heat-related illnesses by 35% to 100% in some cases, the study found.

“That’s massive impact with just one policy,” she said, “that is really altering things like the amount of practice that can occur, how many breaks, and how long those breaks are, when equipment needs to be removed [and], of course, ultimately, if [practice] does need to be canceled.”

Policies and tools focused on heat safety

The 2008 study was split into pre- and post-policy recommendations. After the first 3-year study, the Georgia High School Association introduced a three-pronged guide for high school football teams in 2012.

The first step is acclimatization. For football teams, that would mean players are required to spend a week adjusting to the hot weather, during which they wear no equipment—just a helmet and a T-shirt—and practice for two hours each day. Then, they transition into full practices with full protective gear and mandated breaks throughout.

The second step is for schools to use the wet-bulb globe temperature tool to monitor practice conditions and alter or cancel sessions if needed.

The 2008 study created categories for what practice should look like based on the temperature tool, Grundstein said. For example, the lower the WGBT, the more activity is allowed. But as the temperature rises, modifications should be made, like increasing the number of breaks or having student-athletes remove their gear to cool down.

The final step is for schools to create an emergency action plan. If a student experiences a heat stroke, the school should, for example, have access to a cold-water immersion tub to cool them off before transporting them to the hospital.

At least a dozen states, like New Jersey and Florida, have adopted Georgia’s heat policy mandating that high schools use the WGBT tool to modify practice.

“Georgia has really led the way in terms of policy adoption, and not only implementing and adopting the policies but producing the evidence behind them that shows us how impactful it can be, and how we can save other athletes,” said Stearns.

The pavilion: ‘There’s a place for us to go’

In Heard County, before the pavilion was built, football practice would be held early in the morning to beat the heat, but this made it difficult for some students to find transportation. An alternative was holding practice inside the school gymnasium, but other student-athletes practice there, making it a tight fit and preventing football players from doing the necessary exercises needed to be prepared for a game, said Lasseter.

Now, the pavilion “allows us to never have to cancel a practice or an event of any kind, because no matter if it’s raining in baseball season or if it is heated [in football season], there’s a place for us to go,” he said.

Lasseter also continues to use the WGBT tool and follow the guidelines set by the Georgia High School Association.

“If we were taking the wet bulb [temperature] in the middle of the football field and without a pavilion at 4 p.m. on a Georgia day, you can be up in those upper 90s,” said Lasseter. “But then underneath that pavilion, because the sun is not beating down on it and it’s a cooler place, it’s always in the low 80s to upper 70s.”