Palo Alto High School athletes are required to complete a new athletic clearance process for the spring season in an effort to better verify a student’s eligibility to play a sport.

According to Athletic Director Kathi Bowers, students who plan on trying out for a spring sport must pick up a Health Clearance Card, in addition to having updated their physical, medical and contact information on Appryse, a system the school uses to verify an athlete’s participation eligibility. On the day of tryouts, athletes will hand the Health Clearance Card to their coaches.

While the application process remains mostly the same, the only change is the new method for coaches to verify that an athlete is cleared to participate, even during tryouts.

“It puts coaches in a tough position when the student would say ‘I am getting it [my physical clearance] tomorrow’ or ‘I uploaded it to Appryse, I don’t know why you can’t see it,’” Bowers said. “Coaches were having to spend too much time dealing with the physicals instead of working with their athletes, so what would happen is that some coaches would not take the time to verify that the student was cleared to participate.”

Students may pick up the Health Clearance Card in person on Friday from 2 to 4 p.m., and on Monday from 11:30 to 4 p.m. in Room 725.