Winter high school sports in Clark County open with first practices on November 14, 2026. Before tryouts, every athlete needs an Aktivate registration, a physician signed form, and the grades to play.
Clark County School District's 2026 to 2027 Athletic Information sheet, dated July 2026, lists each season's sports and dates; it was checked Tuesday, October 13, 2026, and rechecked Saturday, October 17. The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA) first practice date for winter is 11/14/2026, and spring follows on 2/13/2027 with baseball, softball, golf, lacrosse, swimming and diving, track and field, and boys volleyball.
Families sometimes hear "NIAA" and "CCSD" as one rulebook. They are two. The district's High School Athletic Eligibility guide says both have standards and that "Your school has the authority to establish additional academic standards and codes of student and athletic conduct." Ask your school's athletic office for its own rules too.
Which teams and levels?
The same sheet lists team levels from B Team, traditionally freshmen, to junior varsity, mostly sophomores and juniors, to varsity. Not every sport fields all three. In winter, boys and girls basketball and girls flag football list varsity, junior varsity, and B Team; wrestling lists varsity and junior varsity; bowling is varsity only. Fall, which started 8/13/2026, covers cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis, and girls volleyball. A family wanting a sport or level the school doesn't offer can request one through the Secondary Student Athletics page on ccsd.net, the sheet says.
Registration in Aktivate
Registration happens at aktivate.com, before the first tryout. The April 2026 Student Athlete Registration Instructions say parents do most of it, but the student must read and electronically sign documents, so have your teen next to you.
A few steps in those instructions trip families up:
Use the student's full legal name as registered at school, with no nicknames.
Guardian 1 "must also be the primary guardian listed in Infinite Campus and must reside at the same address as the athlete."
Register for every sport your teen might try this year. You can add one later, but the instructions say you "must complete the majority of this process again."
Freshmen complete a guardianship and residency verification with two proofs of address from the past 30 days.
The transfer questions can flag a student as ineligible until documents come in. The instructions call that "normal." If your teen is on Open Enrollment or a Magnet seat, read our sports eligibility guide for Open Enrollment and Magnet students before answering them.
The last step is paying the athletic fee to the school in Aktivate. The instructions do not list the amount.
Physical and insurance
The physical is yearly. Download the NIAA Medical Eligibility Form from Aktivate, take it to a Nevada physician, and upload the completed form. The sample instructions say the school "will not accept paper copies," and a clear phone photo of the form is allowed. The history and physical exam pages stay with you, not the school.
Insurance is on you. The eligibility guide says "CCSD does not provide any type of accident or health insurance for injuries," and athletes enter their own coverage in Aktivate. Families without coverage are told to ask the athletic office about student insurance.
What grades does a high school athlete need?
The 2026 to 2027 instructions say an athlete must be enrolled in at least four classes (two units of credit), have an unweighted 2.0 GPA in the prior semester or quarter, have passed at least four classes, and have failed no more than one.
Once on a team, grades are checked every three weeks. The guide says a student who misses the standard at a grading period can earn eligibility back at a three week grade check.
Ninth graders get a pass at first. The instructions say they are eligible "until first quarter grades are posted," and middle school grades do not count. For a freshman trying out this winter, the first grading period, which ended October 9, is the one that counts once those grades post.
Game day and conduct
Under CCSD Regulation 5135.1, the guide says a student must attend a full day on game day to play unless the absence was approved ahead of time.
Other lines that end seasons, all from the guide:
A suspension, Required Parent Conference, or STAROn consequence makes a student ineligible while it is served, and up to one year at the principal's discretion.
An ejection means sitting out the next two contests, and "There is no appeal of an ejection or suspension."
A first NIAA substance violation brings six competitive weeks of suspension, and four of those weeks may be waived after an intervention program.
Falsifying residency or guardianship documents "may result in ineligibility for 360 school days (two years)."
Age and years count as well. A student whose 20th birthday falls during a season is out for that season, eligibility lasts eight consecutive semesters from ninth grade, and fifth year seniors cannot play.
Moving, transferring, charter, private, or homeschool
The eligibility guide's zone rule is simple: a student is eligible at the school whose attendance zone the student and parent or guardian live in. Everything else carries a waiting period or an approval:
A student who moves or transfers within 180 school days of the start of a season is presumed ineligible and must be approved by CCSD and NIAA.
A student who transfers to or from a charter school or a private school is ineligible for 180 school days in any sport the student was rostered in at the previous school.
A charter school student may not play at the zoned school if the charter offers the sport. If it doesn't, NIAA approval with documentation is required.
A homeschooled student may play at the zoned school after CCSD approval, with receipts for the Letters of Intent to Homeschool and Participate.
A student enrolled through Shared Housing is ineligible for the first 180 school days.
A student who changes schools within one year of receiving instruction from someone affiliated with the new school is ineligible for 180 school days.
Middle school is its own rulebook
CCSD's December 2025 Middle School Athletic Handbook, posted by Sedway Middle School, has different numbers:
Students get six consecutive semesters starting in sixth grade.
Any student who turns 15 on or before September 29 cannot play middle school sports that year.
Sixth graders have academic eligibility for fall until first semester grades post.
A failing grade at a grade check means a week of probation. Still failing the next Monday means no play that week.
A player needs five practice days within the first ten days of the season before a game, and Sunday practices and games are prohibited.
Middle schoolers also register in Aktivate, with a physical that the handbook says is valid for one calendar year.
Magnet and career and technical academy students
The district sheet says students at a career and technical academy or Magnet high school "should contact their geographically zoned school for information about participation in sports." The zoned school's athletic office is where those families start.
The Magnet FAQs narrow that. A student at a Magnet high school plays under CCSD and NIAA rules, and the FAQs say career and technical academies and Las Vegas Academy, except Southeast Career and Technical Academy, do not take part in NIAA athletics. Students at those schools play for the zoned school, and the family arranges transportation to practices and games. Cheer is not a CCSD or NIAA sport, so the zoned school rules don't apply to it.
Contacts
Start with your school's athletic office for registration, fees, and tryout dates.
Secondary Student Athletics and Activities Department, which also takes Title IX concerns about athletics: 702 799 8493, per the district sheet.
NIAA: 775 453 1012, per niaa.com.