New EKG requirement for Florida high school athletes: what parents need to know

Your daughter's coach mentioned something about a new heart test before tryouts, and nobody explained what it actually means. Here's the full answer.

Starting July 1, 2026, Florida added a screening requirement most parents have never heard of: an electrocardiogram, or EKG, for certain student athletes before they can practice or try out for a Florida High School Athletic Association sport. It comes from a new law, Florida Statute 1006.20, sometimes called the Second Chance Act.

Sudden cardiac arrest in young athletes is rare, but when it happens it happens fast, often with no warning sign a parent watching from the sideline would recognize. An EKG reads the heart's electrical rhythm on paper in a few minutes, and it can catch things a standard physical exam misses. That is the reasoning behind the law: a small, quick test against a rare but serious risk.

Who actually needs one. If your child is entering 9th grade and plans to try out for any FHSAA sport, she needs an EKG. If she is in 10th, 11th, or 12th grade and has never played an FHSAA sport before, she needs one too. Same if she is transferring schools and joining a team for the first time. If she already played last season and is returning to the same sport, the law does not require a new EKG, though asking her doctor about it anyway is reasonable.

What counts as "returning" is specific: the same sport, at the same level of competition, without a gap. A student moving from middle school activities into high school FHSAA sports for the first time, even if she played casually before, counts as new. When in doubt, the school's athletic director can confirm which form status applies.

The form is called EL1. It is separate from the regular sports physical, which still uses its own form, the EL2, and one does not replace the other. The EL1 documents that the EKG happened, that a parent signed off, and that a clinician reviewed the result. If something on the EKG looks unusual, there is space on the form to note the referral. Both forms have to be on file before your child can step onto the field for tryouts or practice.

Many families combine the two into one visit, since a doctor completing the EL2 physical can do the EKG and sign the EL1 at the same appointment if the practice has the equipment on site. Ask when you call whether both can happen together. It saves a second trip during a season that already has too many.

Timing gives you more room than it sounds like at first. An EKG done any time on or after July 1, 2024 satisfies the requirement, so if your athlete already had one in the last two years for another reason, you may not be starting from zero. Check the date on the paperwork before assuming you need a new one.

There are two ways out, and only two. A parent can decline for religious reasons, documented directly on the EL1. Or a licensed physician can sign a medical exemption on a separate form, the ME1, if there is a specific medical reason the screening should not happen. Neither is a way to skip the requirement because tryouts are close and there is no time. Plan for the appointment instead.

An abnormal EKG is not automatically disqualifying. Most abnormal findings turn out to be normal variants once a cardiologist reviews them, and the EL1's referral section exists exactly for that step. The point of the law is to catch the rare real finding before it becomes an emergency, not to sideline healthy teenagers over a shadow on a printout.

If your child is heading into 9th grade this fall or joining a team for the first time, do not wait until the week before tryouts. An EKG needs a clinician to read it and sign the EL1, and that is not something to rush the night before a Monday practice.

If you are not sure whether your athlete needs the EL1, the EL2, or both, message me directly on WhatsApp and I will tell you exactly what to bring in.