MCPS replaced the paper process of trying out for sports to an online registration for the 2017-18 school year going forward.

Previously, students trying out for a sport at CHS required different types of forms such as the physical evaluation form and concussion testing baseline consent form. All of these forms still exist, but are now easily accessible online through the MCPS website. To try out for a sport, these online forms must be completed.

“The switch was made by MCPS in order to make the registration process easier in the long term for parents, coaches, and administrators,” athletic director Jesse Smith said. “This process also allows for consistency of information from all schools and sports while keeping better and more secure records of health information on each student athlete.”

To register, a parent needs to make a myMCPS account if they have not done so already. If  a parent doesn’t have an account, they can contact your guidance counselor to obtain it. All registration has to be done through a parent’s MyMCPS account, and not the student account. If you don’t register online, you can’t tryout. There’s no way around it.

“I think it may be a little more difficult for athletes at first, just because the whole system is so new, but you can’t lose it the way you could lose forms in the past,” junior and CHS field hockey and lacrosse team member Emily Feigen said. “It was a lot of paper to keep track of, so I think in the long run online registration will be easier.”

Athletes who play multiple sports throughout the school year will also have an easier sport tryout process.

“I think it will make the process easier for parents and athletes, especially those who play more than one sport throughout the school year,” girls varsity basketball coach Katelyn Blanken said. “However, it could penalize those who do not have easy access to a computer.”

With the new system, coaches will now have easy access to all of their athlete’s information in case of an emergency and will not need to struggle looking for athlete forms and papers.

“Coaches don’t have to handle large amounts of paperwork,” said Smith. “They get an approved tryout list of names and if an athlete’s name is on the list, they can participate. It’s a nice smooth process.”

Using the registration process will make life much easier for coaches and athletes. Athletes will be able to walk into their first practice with all of their forms completed, which is normally not the case.

According to Smith, each team often has athletes that come in with missing forms which puts the coach in the position to hold those athletes out of practice.

Along with the new registration system, athletic fees have officially been waived removing the barrier to participation in extracurricular activities.

“[MCPS] implements strategies and initiatives that support our athletic directors and coaches and assist them with promoting our RAISE core values in our student-athletes,” MCPS athletics specialist Kathy Green said. “As a result, athletic directors requested MCPS implement an online registration platform to streamline the registration process for coaches and parent(s)/guardian(s) to make the registration process more convenient for all stakeholders in our program.”