YCSD Nurses - Athletic Sports Clearance Info

Fall Sports Registration opens on July 24, 2024 for HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS and will close on August 23, 2024 to clear those already registered. Fall sports starts on August 24 for Football, all other sports will start on August 26, 2024. If students want to play on time, all registrations and physicals must be submitted/ uploaded a week prior to August 24. Parents, please register your child early when sports opens on Arbiter Sports (Previously Family ID) .

If you are a grade 8 student you must be selected to play up and do an Athletic Placement Process. Do not just sign up, it will be canceled. Listen for announcements at lunch during the year to see if there are any high school sports slots open, it is not guaranteed. There are no modified sports however students in grade 8 and 7 may be asked to play up.

Sports Facts:

Fall Sports start on August 24 for Football and August 26th for all other sports.
Sign up and registration is for High School students only. Grade 8 cannot sign up for sports unless they are invited to play up by the Athletic Director. If your child has been selected to play up in Grade 8 , please reach out to the Middle School Nurse for instructions. Middle school students are cleared by the MESMS nurse , must have a current physical, pass a fitness test, and be seen by our physician to participate in the APP. Date to see physician will be sent in an email. Please read : MESMS potential High School Athletes
To be cleared to start on the first day of sports the following must occur:

Parents must register their child on Arbiter sports when online registration opens and it MUST be completed by a parent/guardian ONLY. Any form completed by a student will be DENIED and will not be cleared until after the first day of practice.
To ensure that the student athlete is cleared on time to start their season, parents must upload a current physical in PDF format for approval after registering. A jpeg file will not open and will delay clearance.
Physicals dated after 9/2/2023 will be accepted for Fall sports , however, if it expires during the season of play you must make an appointment with your physician for your child to receive an updated physical and send it to the nurse to continue sports play. Physicals are good for 1 year only.
If a student is unable to get an appointment with their physician prior to sports starting, please reach out to your school nurse by email as soon as registration is opened. A physical appointment will be made with one of our physicians. Prior to the appointment, PARENTS must register on Family ID , print and fill in the attached Athletic Interval Health History , and then send it to the nurse via email.
Registration and all required medical documentation should be uploaded and completed at least 2 weeks prior to the start of sports to be cleared on time in Arbiter Sports. This allows time to submit further information if needed. Students who are signed up the week before sports starts may not be cleared to participate on time. If ALL required medical documentation is attached or on file, this will expedite clearance for your child to participate in a sport. The Medical Director will be consulted as needed. Sports registration will close at the end of the school day on the last Friday before sports starts to clear all students already registered for participation.
MEDICAL CLEARANCE will be necessary if there was a Physical Education/Sports excuse in place, the student has an injury/illness before or during the sports season, or COVID within 4 weeks of sports. The nurse will notify you if it is necessary and not provided.
Students who have had COVID within 1 month of sports starting , must get from their physician a note stating that the student has a normal cardiovascular exam and is cleared for all unrestricted physical activities. If student has been hospitalized with COVID or had high fevers with extreme sickness the student must submit a cardiac clearance form from a cardiologist and be cleared by the athletic trainer. Use this form YCSD Cardiac Clearance post COVID
If a Student has asthma, diabetes, or anaphylactic allergies they must have clearance from their physician to self carry emergency meds and administer it. Please use this form: Self Carry medication form and send it to the nurse dated after July 1 of the new school year.
All mandatory immunization requirements must be met to play sports. Students in Grade 12 will require 2 doses of MenACWY with the last dose on or after 16 years of age or 1 dose of MenACWY on or after age 16 years. Please check with your Healthcare Provider for your child’s immunization status.
Please check emails regularly for registration status changes and communication from your school nurse regarding any missing documentation . Only a status of "Approved" indicates that a student is cleared to participate. Emails are generated through Arbiter Sports to the email address of the registrant.
Please view the YHS Athletics home page for further registration information, athlete expectations, and athletic schedules. You can also access quick links for Family ID registration and Weekly Schedules.
Athletics follows The Dominic Murray Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act and Commissioner’s regulation §136.9 effective July 1, 2022. Cardiac questions are asked during registration.

If an athlete has an ILLNESS/INJURY:

A student cannot be approved for sports participation if there has been an illness, accident, injury or surgery until a medical clearance report is provided by the treating physician and received by the School Nurse. The District Medical Director will then review this report and, if appropriate, give the final medical clearance for the student to participate in sports.
If a student athlete experiences an injury or illness at any time during the sports season (in school or out of school), the athlete and his/her parent must communicate this immediately to the Coach as well as the School Nurse. Failure to report illness/injury may result in student athlete being disqualified for the remainder of the sports season.
When an athlete is ill or injured during a sports season he/she may not return to sports participation until cleared by the physician who treated the condition. The student must provide the physician’s written medical clearance to the School Nurse for the student to participate in sports.
According to New York State Guidelines, the final decision to approve the athlete’s return to activity is determined by the District Medical Director. The School Nurse will confer with the District Medical Director as needed and will then communicate the final clearance (or decision not to clear) to the physical education teacher, athletic department, and coach.
In the event the School Nurse is unavailable, the District Director of PE, Health, and Athletics or Athletic Trainer may accept an athlete’s clearance note from his/her healthcare provider. However, this clearance note must be immediately sent to the District Medical Director who will confirm or deny the clearance.
The clearance note must be given to the School Nurse on the first available day. It is the student athlete’s responsibility to follow through and bring the medical clearance to the nurse to be recertified.
For Student Athletes with COVID - If your child is a YHS athlete and has/ had COVID , during the season of play, YHS Athletes are asked to bring in a note from their physician stating that : Student has a normal cardiovascular exam and is cleared for all unrestricted physical activities. If a student athlete has COVID within 4 weeks of sports during the sport season then they must also be cleared by our Athletic Trainer who does a return to play. Please call your nurse for further guidance.
Students who are accidentally injured during sports participation must report the injury to the Coach who will fill out a Student Incident Report and give it to the School Nurse. Medical expenses resulting from an accidental injury must be submitted to your own insurance company. Any expenses not covered by your insurance can be submitted to the school district insurance company. Contact the School Nurse if you need a form to submit for reimbursement from the district insurance company.

HEAD INJURIES and CONCUSSIONS

Please view concussion information and return to play guidelines on our YCSD School Nurses' site and Concussion Management Policy on Arbiter sports sign up. Parents are encouraged to read about traumatic brain injury on the CDC Heads Up site. Students are encouraged to view CDC Heads Up Youth Sports during sports sign up season. If your child has or receives a concussion diagnosis please notify the school nurse and coach.

Athletic Placement Process (APP) for SELECTED Middle School Students

Students in middle school may be asked to play up and join a YHS sports team. MESMS students should not be signed up for sports unless asked to do so by Athletics, registration will be canceled if a sport is not open to MESMS student athletes.

The middle school nurse will start the process and students must be cleared to play by our school physician through the APP Process .
An email will be sent to candidates and their parents describing next steps and a scheduled fitness test before tryouts.
Physicals must be uploaded to the Registration site, be current and good for 1 year, and not expire during the season of play.