Mar 11, 2026Integrating biometric data safely and effectively
Participation in high school sports continues to rise. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), athletic participation increased by 200,000 in the 2024-25 school year. This totals 8,266,244 over the past year alone, underscoring the growing need for safe participation and optimal performance (NFHS, 2025).
Participation in sports has many positive benefits, including improved physical strength, better heart and mental health, and even enhancements in overall physical appearance. However, millions of high school athletes experience injuries of varying severity, some serious enough to require hospitalization or surgery, including conditions such as heat stroke, heat exhaustion, and, in rare cases, sudden death. These adverse events have the potential to greatly impact athletes’ psychological health, ability to achieve peak performance, and stamina.
The human body varies widely in how it functions and recovers, so tracking certain measurable factors can provide useful insight into overall health, stress levels, and recovery status. However, biometric data must be used thoughtfully and appropriately, as excessive or improper tracking can increase anxiety and burnout. It is therefore important to understand which types of biometric data are relevant for high school athletes and how to integrate them safely and effectively into routine athletic programs.
Heart rate variability (HRV), sleep duration, and temperature are just some of the simple metrics that can be tracked on a smartwatch. These metrics raise awareness of the health status of an athlete, and it is important to know their potential implications on performance and training.
HRV refers to the small changes in time between each heartbeat. Higher HRV is generally a sign of good heart and overall health and indicates the body’s ability to adapt well to both physical and emotional stressors. Heart rate naturally rises when we breathe in and slows when we breathe out. Research has shown that slow, controlled breathing, both at rest and during activity, can enhance the body’s blood pressure sensors and improve breathing efficiency, even in children with asthma (Lehrer PM et al., 2003).
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that adolescents get eight to ten hours of sleep each night to improve daytime alertness. However, observational studies show that during a seven-week training season, young athletes average only about seven hours of sleep per night, falling short of these recommendations. Sleep monitoring can also assess heart rate variability during sleep, known as nocturnal HRV (n-HRV), in addition to total sleep time. Lower n-HRV has been linked to higher stress and fatigue related to the demands of athletic competition. Using a smartwatch, sleep duration can be easily tracked, including time spent in light and deep sleep and the number of nighttime awakenings, allowing assessment of sleep quality, not just quantity, even in athletes who meet recommended sleep hours. Notably, longer sleep duration has been associated with faster recovery and higher n-HRV (Dolson CM, 2022).
Body temperature naturally changes throughout the day and with different activities, but monitoring it is especially important in sports because of the risk of exertional heat-related illnesses. Heat stroke is the most common and most severe form of heat illness and is defined by a core body temperature of about 40°C (104°F), along with altered or decreased consciousness and potential organ failure if not treated promptly. These episodes are more common in hot, humid environments such as Florida. Because environmental temperature does not accurately reflect an athlete’s core body temperature, direct monitoring is valuable. Core temperature can be estimated in several ways, and most conveniently through a smartwatch, allowing for close tracking and early intervention, such as rest and hydration, before serious illness develops.
Given the growing understanding of these metrics and their potential impact, routinely monitoring them in high school athletes can support safe participation and optimal performance. Regular tracking may help prevent overtraining, overexertion, and heat-related illness, while also improving conditioning, stamina, and recovery.
Wearing smartwatches for most of the day, including during activity and rest, allows for consistent and routine monitoring of key health metrics. A prospective longitudinal study found that student athletes were willing to wear these devices overnight and even outside of formal training sessions (Ransom D, 2025). Data collected by the watch is automatically synced to the athlete’s smartphone and can be reviewed weekly by coaches for assessment. Coaches may also incorporate controlled breathing sessions, such as during treadmill running, and later evaluate HRV data to monitor changes over time. This approach may encourage athletes to use slow, controlled breathing during competition to improve performance and stamina. In addition, smartwatch settings can be programmed to alert athletes when body temperature reaches 40°C, prompting them to stop activity, notify a coach, hydrate, and rest as needed before being safely cleared to return to play. Finally, tracking sleep duration can help coaches identify athletes who consistently fall short of sleep goals, allowing for timely support to improve both sleep quantity and quality.
When collecting biometric data, protecting athletes’ personal information is essential. Athletes should be clearly informed about what data is being collected, the reasons for collecting it, how it will be used, and how it will be stored. Schools can help safeguard privacy by following established best practices from governing bodies, such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology, to ensure responsible data management and protection.
