Melissa Fortenberry, a former athlete turned innovator, has developed a wearable called Heat Sense that records an athlete’s core body temperature in real time.
The device was born from Fortenberry’s own observations watching her children compete, when she realized that existing tools failed to give coaches a proactive way to manage heat stress.
The Heat Challenge in Tuscaloosa
Alabama’s football program will be the first collegiate team to integrate the technology, with the rollout scheduled for August as the Crimson Tide begins its fall camp.
Head athletic trainer Jeff Allen expressed enthusiasm for the tracker, noting that the average temperature in Tuscaloosa climbs above 90 degrees during those intense sessions, making heat management a critical concern.
Fortenberry believes the data will allow coaches to intervene before heat strain becomes dangerous, and she hopes the pilot will expand to three to five Division I programs by the end of the summer.
If the trial proves successful, the implications could ripple across college sports, prompting a broader shift toward temperature‑aware training regimens.