Beginning this winter sports season, MCPS introduced online registration for completing and submitting the required paperwork for try-outs, replacing the previous hard copy submission process, which has been met with a mixed sense of streamlining the process and confusion over the new system.

Online sports registration was released through the recently implemented myMCPS Parent Portal Oct. 18. It was developed to ease the process of sports registration for not only students and parents, but for coaches as well.
All of the required paperwork including forms such as Student-Parent Participation Contract and Parent Permission Form, Pre-participation Physical Evaluation, Emergency Medical Card and Consent Form, will all be available to fill out digitally.

MCPS has incorporated all concussion paperwork online as well, spotlighting the importance of the safety of students. Parents will now have more access to those documents so they can stay active in their child’s health when they participate in sports.

As students are completing their online registration paperwork for the upcoming season, they are finding it difficult to navigate through the portal.

“I was really lost at first because it was so confusing, I didn’t know where to go to complete certain forms,” junior basketball player Emily Huynh said. “I had to go to the office and get a code for my parents and it made the process so annoying. Personally I’d rather complete the hard copy of all the paperwork.”

Athletic director Michael Hayes held an online sports registration night Oct. 8 at RHS in which he and other faculty helped parents sign up students for winter sports. Many parents experienced slight difficulties, but eventually felt more comfortable with the registration process.

“I think the registration night went great, a lot of parents came and completed the registration with ease,” Hayes said. “Anytime you change a process it takes some time to adjust.”

Parents who have been using the hard copy system for years have started using the online sports registration. Parent Kim DiFonzo completed the winter sports registration for her son junior Matt DiFonzo, experiencing little difficulty while completing the registration process.

“The online registration it was very simple, quick, and easy,” Kim DiFonzo said. “I prefer this new system rather than filling out all the hard-copy forms.”

While some coaches and parents have quickly taken to the new online system, students are still adapting and will attempt it again once spring sports arrive.