Florida students who are new to high school sports must pass an electrocardiogram before participating in any athletic activities this fall.

The Florida Second Chance Act takes effect July 1 and mandates ECGs for all incoming ninth-, 10th-, 11th- and 12th-graders who have never played high school sports. An ECG or EKG checks the heartbeat and records the electrical signals in the heart. The screening can help diagnose heart attacks and irregular heartbeats, called arrhythmias.

Florida is the first state to mandate ECGs for athletes participating in Florida High School Athletic Association-sanctioned sports. The law also required the FHSSA to adopt bylaws and policies prohibiting students with abnormal ECGs from participating in interscholastic athletic competition until a written medical clearance is submitted to their school.

Casey Thiele, director of athletics for Escambia County Public Schools, said to even try out for a sport, a student must have an ECG screening.

“If a student has never participated in the FHSSA or athletics in Florida and you’re a 10th-, 11th- or 12th-grader, you have to have an ECG before you can try out, before you can practice, before you can play. You cannot participate in any way, shape or form until this is done,” Thiele stressed.

“All incoming ninth-graders or current eighth-graders who are rising ninth-graders – all of them – cannot try out. They cannot practice. They cannot participate until they’ve had the ECG.”

Passed during the 2025 legislative session, the Florida Second Chance Act was named after Chance Gainer, an 18-year-old Port St. Joe football player who collapsed on the field and died from sudden cardiac arrest in September 2024.

Returning FHSAA student-athletes are not required to have ECGs, but all student-athletes must also complete a sports physical. Band, ROTC, dance and flagline students are not required to have ECGs.

More than 60% of all catastrophic injuries in sports are caused by sudden cardiac arrest, according to National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research data.

Dr. Joseph Klawitter, chief medical officer at Community Health of Northwest Florida and a pediatrician, said an ECG can help identify undiagnosed or hidden heart conditions that may not be found during a routine heart exam or through routine screening questions.

“Some of them have to do with conduction anomalies. Some of them have to do with as the heart pumps blood, the outlet valve may be constricted or the vessel that the blood is being pumped into may be constricted. And during athletics when the heart has a heavier load and is working harder, it becomes less efficient because of these electrical anomalies or flow anomalies,” explained Klawitter, who added there is a lengthy list of other causes and conditions.

ECPS and Santa Rosa County District Schools offered ECGs to students in early March, with another screening event set for April 11. Thiele said ECPS partnered with Andrews Institute, Baptist Hospital and Nemours Children’s Health to offer EKGs for $20.

The April screening will be at Baptist Medical Park–Nine Mile Road and has slots for up to 450 rising ECPS eighth-graders and high school students. Parents can go to their child’s school website at escambiaschools.org and register.

ECPS held a screening on March 7 where just over 250 students showed up for ECGs. If there is a financial hardship, Thiele said the nonprofit, Who We Play For, will pay the $20 fee for the screening and reading by a pediatric cardiologist. The results will be sent to parents’ email in about seven days as proof of the screening.

Santa Rosa Schools also partnered with Who We Play For at the March 7 event and will participate in April screening, said Katelyn Kent, Santa Rosa school spokeswoman. Flyers about the upcoming screening have been sent to parents.

Both school districts urge parents to get their child screened sooner rather than later.

In Santa Rosa schools, students are encouraged to complete the required ECG screening at least three months before the anticipated start date for athletic participation.

“Rising 2026-2027 freshmen student‑athletes trying out for and/or participating in FHSAA interscholastic athletics in any sports are the primary target group for these events,” she said, adding new student-athletes in grades 10-12 and/or those who have never played FHSAA sports must have ECGs.

Klawitter said Community Health of Northwest Florida has also equipped all its pediatric clinics, including the pediatric mobile unit, with an ECG machine.

“And we’ve partnered with a cardiology organization for any abnormal ECGs or abnormal examinations. The ECGs will be interpreted by this cardiology group and/or the patients would be referred to them,”  Klawitter said.

He said student-athletes should also get physical exams and screenings scheduled early.

“If there is an issue either on the ECG or through the examination, we can get proper clearance or treatment prior to the season starting. Very often, we have students show up at 1 o’clock in the afternoon (for a physical) because they have practice at 4. That just may not work if there’s something noted on their EKG,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Florida law Second Chance Act requires ECG for high school athletes