To clear a student for a Nevada high school sport, families complete the NIAA physical form in two parts: a History Form (Form B) that the parent and student fill out at home, and a Physician Form (Form D) that a Nevada-licensed healthcare provider completes during the exam. Both are downloadable at niaa.com/forms or available through the school’s athletic office, and the signed physician’s page is uploaded through the Aktivate online registration platform used by most Nevada high schools.
No student may join tryouts, practices, or games in any NIAA-sanctioned sport until the completed packet has been submitted and the school has marked the student cleared.
What’s in the Packet
Three documents sit on the NIAA forms page. Form B is the Pre-Participation History Form, filled out by the student and a parent before the appointment. Form D is the Physician Form, completed by the provider during the exam. Form E is a Health Questionnaire Interim Form used in limited situations between full annual physicals.
Print Form B and Form D before the appointment. Complete Form B at home so the provider can review it during the visit. The most common reason schools reject a submitted form is a blank field, so answer every question, including the ones where the answer is “no” or “none.”
Filling Out Form B at Home
Form B opens with demographic information: student name, date of birth, grade, school, sport, address, phone, and personal physician. An emergency contact with both home and work phone numbers is required. None of these fields are optional.
The medical history section asks about chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, and high blood pressure, prior overnight hospitalizations, current prescription and over-the-counter medications, allergies, and skin conditions.
A block of cardiac-screening questions asks whether the student has passed out or felt dizzy during exercise, had chest pain or pressure during activity, or experienced unexplained shortness of breath or fatigue while exercising. Family-history questions cover sudden death in a relative younger than 50 and any family history of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, dilated cardiomyopathy, long QT syndrome, or Marfan syndrome. Sudden cardiac events, while rare, are the leading cause of death among young athletes during competition, so answer these carefully rather than checking “no” reflexively.
Separate sections cover concussion and neurological history (loss of consciousness, memory loss, seizures, numbness or tingling), musculoskeletal history with a body-part checklist for prior pain or swelling, and menstrual history for female athletes.
Question 14 asks whether the student would like to talk to someone about stress, anger, depression, or other concerns. It is confidential and does not affect clearance; it flags students who may benefit from school counseling.
Both the parent and the student must sign and date Form B. The provider needs those signatures before beginning the exam, so don’t arrive at the appointment without them.
What the Provider Does on Form D
During the appointment the provider works through a structured clinical checklist and records height, weight, blood pressure, current medications, medical conditions, surgeries, and allergies. The exam covers general appearance, heart, eyes/ears/nose/throat, lungs, abdomen, skin, neurological, and musculoskeletal systems, with specific attention to signs of Marfan syndrome, cardiac murmurs (auscultation performed both standing and lying down with a Valsalva maneuver), and contagious skin conditions such as herpes simplex, MRSA, and ringworm.
At the end of Form D the provider checks one of five clearance determinations: eligible for all sports; eligible with recommendations for further evaluation; eligible for certain sports only; not eligible pending further evaluation; or not eligible for any sports. The provider then prints their name, signs, dates the form, writes their license number, and checks a box for their credential type (MD, DO, NP, PA, or DC). A missing license number or signature will cause the school to reject the form.
Who Can Sign the Form
Nevada Administrative Code 385B.336 authorizes six categories of licensed professionals to conduct and sign the physical evaluation:
- A physician (MD) licensed under NRS Chapter 630
- A homeopathic physician licensed under NRS Chapter 630A
- An osteopathic physician (DO) licensed under NRS Chapter 633
- A chiropractic physician (DC) licensed under NRS Chapter 634
- An advanced practice registered nurse (NP) licensed under NRS Chapter 632
- A physician assistant (PA) licensed under NRS Chapter 630 or 633
A form signed by anyone outside these categories will not be accepted. If you use an urgent care clinic, retail clinic, or community sports-physical event, confirm beforehand that the signing provider holds one of these Nevada licenses.
Submitting Through Aktivate
Most Nevada high schools use Aktivate (aktivate.com) to manage athletic eligibility and store required documents. Create a parent account, select your student’s school, and register for the desired sport. Both parent and student electronically sign several documents inside the system, including an NIAA tryout checklist and school-specific acknowledgments.
After the appointment, scan or photograph the completed and signed Form D and upload it to the student’s Aktivate profile. Every signature, date, and license number must be clearly legible. Some schools, including Centennial High School in the Clark County School District, instruct families that only the physician’s page needs to be uploaded rather than the full packet. Check your own school’s instructions in Aktivate, since requirements vary by district.
Once uploaded, the school’s athletic department reviews the submission and a school administrator manually changes the student’s status to cleared. During busy pre-season windows this review can take a few business days, so submit well before the first day of tryouts rather than the night before.
How Long the Physical Is Valid
NAC 385B.336 requires a complete physical for each year a student participates in a sanctioned sport. A physical signed in June covers the fall, winter, and spring seasons of that school year, and a new exam is needed before the next school year begins. The regulation ties the requirement to annual participation rather than a rolling 12-month window, so schools treat the start of the academic year as the renewal point.
The NIAA periodically updates its forms, and old versions stop being accepted when new ones come out. When updated forms were released for the 2024–25 year, the Douglas County School District announced that all athletes needed a new physical on the updated forms even if their previous physical was still recent. Use the current version from niaa.com/forms rather than a copy saved from a prior year.
Concussion Clearance Is Separate
The annual physical does not cover return-to-play after a head injury. Under NRS 385B.080, any student-athlete with a suspected concussion must be removed from the activity immediately and cannot return that day, even if symptoms seem to clear.
To return to the sport, the parent or guardian must provide a signed statement from a healthcare provider, acting within their scope of practice, confirming the student is medically cleared and specifying the date they may resume. Even if the annual physical is current, this additional signed release is required before the student returns to activity. Schools handle it through the athletic department, and some require it to be uploaded to Aktivate alongside the original physical.
NRS 385B.080 also requires that the student and parent review and acknowledge an NIAA concussion policy annually before the student participates in any interscholastic activity.
Cost and Insurance
Neither the school nor the NIAA charges a fee to file the form. The cost is for the exam itself, which varies by setting. Some Nevada health systems run free or reduced-cost sports physical clinics before fall and winter seasons; Northern Nevada Health System has offered no-cost clinics in past years. Urgent care and retail clinics typically charge a flat cash rate, while a visit to the student’s regular pediatrician often costs more but keeps the exam within their medical home.
One way to reduce out-of-pocket cost is to schedule the sports physical as part of the student’s annual well-child visit. Under the Affordable Care Act, most health plans cover preventive services, including well-child checkups, at no cost when provided by an in-network provider. If the sports physical is performed during that same appointment, the exam portion may be covered as preventive care rather than billed separately. Ask the billing office before the visit whether they can combine the two, since practices handle it differently.