UIL Sports Physicals: What Forney and Crandall Parents Need on File
Football season is underway, which means basketball, soccer, wrestling, and powerlifting tryouts are the next thing on the calendar. If your kid missed the August physical rush, now is the window — and there’s one detail that sends a lot of families back to the doctor a second time.
The Rule
Every student in UIL athletics, marching band, cheer, dance, or drill must have a completed Pre-participation Physical Evaluation (PPE) on file before their first tryout, practice, scrimmage, performance, or contest — before, during, or after school. No form, no participation. There’s no grace period.
UIL’s stated minimum is that the Physical Examination Form must be completed:
- Prior to junior high participation, and
- Again prior to the first and third years of high school participation
In the off years, a medical history form is still required annually.
But local district policy can require an annual physical, and many districts do. Check with your campus athletic trainer rather than assuming the UIL minimum applies — this is the single most common mix-up.
The May 1 Trap
Physicals must be dated no earlier than May 1, 2026 to count for the 2026-27 school year.
An April physical does not work. A physical from last summer does not work. Every year a handful of families in every district get turned away at the trainer’s office over exactly this, usually the week of tryouts.
Check the date on the form before you drive anywhere.
Use the 2026 Form
UIL updated the form. Use the current one — PrePhysFormRvsd2026.pdf, from the UIL athletics forms page. An old-version form is a rejected form.
The parent or guardian fills out the medical history portion; the exam portion is completed by the provider.
Who Can Sign It
Broader than most parents expect. In Texas the PPE may be completed by a:
- Physician
- Pediatrician
- Physician’s assistant
- Nurse practitioner
- Chiropractor
Which matters in practice, because urgent care clinics and pediatric offices along the US-80 corridor book up fast in August and thin out considerably by September. Right now is genuinely a better time to get one than three weeks ago.
What They’re Actually Screening For
The physical is not a formality. The high-value part is the cardiac history section — family history of sudden cardiac death, fainting during exercise, chest pain during exertion. Those questions exist because of specific, preventable deaths in high school athletics.
Answer them honestly even when the honest answer is inconvenient. A kid held out for a week of testing is a much better outcome than the alternative.
After the Form: The Part That Prevents Injuries
A cleared physical means your kid is medically allowed to play. It does not mean their body is prepared to.
The injuries that end youth seasons in this area are overwhelmingly non-contact: ACLs, hamstrings, ankles, and shoulders. And the strongest predictors are the boring ones — poor single-leg control, weak posterior chain, no off-season base, and a sudden jump in training volume in week one.
The work that reduces that risk:
- Single-leg strength — split squats, step-ups, single-leg RDLs
- Hamstring work — Nordic curls, RDLs, hamstring curls
- Landing and deceleration — how to stop, not just how to go
- Actual off-season lifting, so August isn’t a shock
None of it is exotic. It’s a barbell, some dumbbells, and eight weeks.
For the Athletes in Your House
Middle and high school athletes are covered on a family plan here: $31 every two weeks for one adult and one kid, $43 for one adult and two or more, $62 for two adults and two or more. No family plan carries an annual fee, and two kids costs the same as five.
Full free-weight floor, machines, and infrared saunas. We’re open 5 a.m.–11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, which covers both before-school and after-practice lifting.
While You’re Here
The Kids Zone handles the younger siblings — ages 1–11, Monday–Saturday 8 a.m.–1 p.m. and weekdays 4–8 p.m., up to two hours per child per day.
The Kids Zone is a supervised play area for parents exercising at TX Fitness — not a licensed child-care facility, and not regulated by the State of Texas.
And our free HIIT class runs Saturdays at 9 a.m. in Studio X — 50 minutes, coach-led, free, open to non-members. Teenagers do fine in it.
Where We Are
127 E US Highway 80, Forney, TX 75126 — south side of the highway. Five minutes from both Forney high schools, about fifteen from Crandall and Heartland. Locally owned since 2001.
Join TX Fitness → — or try the 7-day free trial first, no card required.
Questions? Call (972) 564-0909.
This is general information, not medical advice. UIL requirements compiled September 2026 from published UIL materials; district policies vary and may be stricter. Confirm with your campus athletic trainer and at uiltexas.org.