ACPS MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT-ATHLETE ELIGIBILITY

All students in grades 6-8 are eligible to participate in ACPS middle school athletics if they meet the following eligibility requirements.

• Have a minimum 2.0 grade point average (GPA) on the most recent 9-week grading period. First fall sport eligibility will be determined by GPA from the previous school year’s 4th nine-week grading period. 6th graders have automatic eligibility (as far as grades are concerned) for the fall sport. Student-athletes will be added or dropped accordingly when grades are released during a season.

• Good Behavior: As defined by the school. Each school is encouraged to come up with reasonable and effective behavior standards to maintain athletic eligibility. 

• Age Limit: A student who reaches the age of 15 prior to July 1st shall become ineligible to participate at the middle school level. Students are no longer eligible if they turn 15 years old prior to July 1st. 

Charter school, home school and private school students are allowed to play for any public middle school in the school district in which the student resides per FHSAA rules. Please contact the district athletic director for rules governing public school eligibility. 

All eligibility criteria must be met and ineligible students may not play with their team. The most current 9-weeks GPA must be applied once the deadline passes for teachers to post grades. You do not need to wait for report cards to be printed and you should not solicit unofficial grades from teachers (i.e., grades that have not been officially entered into the district SIS.)

All students-athletes must provide accident insurance covering medical expenses of any injury sustained in school sports. Parents must provide proof of accident insurance with an insurance card of policy and signed statement prior to practice or participation. Insurance policies are available to parents through the school website or they may submit evidence that insurance was secured through another source.       

PARENT PERMISSION

Students must complete an ACPS parent permission form to try-out. Parents must complete and sign the district Middle School Sports Try-Out Permission Slip. The form may be downloaded from the SBAC website @ Forms @ Curriculum Department.   

Students selected for the team must complete the FHSAA EL3 FORM Consent and Release from Liability Certificate. It can be downloaded from the website at www.fhsaa.com   

PHYSICAL EXAMS

All students are required to have a current (within the year) physical exam to be eligible to participate in the middle school sports program. The student must have a physical exam each year and be certified as physically fit to participate in interscholastic athletics. The physical evaluation shall be valid for a period not to exceed one calendar year from the date of the practitioner’s signature.   

The annual physical examination must be administered either by a licensed physician, osteopathic physician, chiropractic physician, physician assistant or a certified advanced registered nurse practitioner. 

The FHSAA PREPARTICIPATION PHYSICAL EVALUATION FORM (EL2) is not required but is the standard physical form used by high schools. It can be downloaded from the website at www.fhsaa.com If parents choose not to use the FHSAA form, any proper medical physical evaluation documentation will suffice as long as it clearly states the student’s clearance to compete in sports.