2024-25 Nanticoke Area Athletic Registration
The Athletic Department at Greater Nanticoke Area Senior High School hosts their PIAA-required Pre-Participation Athletic Forms online with BigTeams Student Central. This digital platform allows parents/guardians and students in grades 7-12 to complete and access athletic forms via computer, tablet, or mobile phone to participate in fall, winter and spring sports. It also allows the school district to confirm that all required steps have been completed in order for a student-athlete to participate in those sports. It is HIPAA, COPPA and FERPA compliant. A link to the privacy policy is located on the Login page. Paper copies of the required forms will not be accepted, as we need all information on Student Central which allows easier access to emergency contact information and also allows our staff to send important messages to student and parents throughout the school year. In order to help you with the online registration, please take the time to read the following instructions as the format is different than what we had been using.
One of the first things to know is that parents/guardians and students will have separate accounts and these accounts must use different emails and/or mobile numbers. This is to ensure that parental permission is granted where the PIAA requires it.
TIP: The best practice for this is for the parent/guardian to set up their account first then have the student account(s) established and linked to the parent/guardian account.
Important: Students must be sure to create accounts using accurate information, including their official name from school registration, date of birth and high school graduation year. Once a parent/guardian or student creates an account, they should continue to use that same account for their entire time participating in athletics at GNA. Please do not create multiple accounts.
When registering for the 2024-25 athletic year, athletes should sign up for all sports in which they have interest during all three of the seasons; fall, winter and spring. It is helpful that all students who plan to participate in any sports during the school year register at this time, so the athletic department and coaching staffs can reach out to team members prior to the season. Parents/guardians and students will always have the option to add, subtract or change sports throughout the year by checking or unchecking the sports in their account profile.
WINTER and SPRING SPORTS ONLY. If you are re-certifying an athlete for their second (or third) season of the school year, you may skip to the RE-CERTIFICATION section below.
SPORTS REGISTRATION
For assistance at any point in the registration, click “SELF HELP” on the right of the screen for walkthroughs of the account creation, account linking, and athletic forms functionality.
STEP 1. Go to https://studentcentral.bigteams.com/ and once on the Login page, click on “Sign Up to Create New Account” - OR - with a smartphone, follow the Quick Account Instructions below. It is recommended to set up your accounts and complete the forms using a desktop or laptop, but a mobile device may be used. Note: if students are under 13, and they create an account, they must know their parent/guardian’s email address or mobile phone number. (COPPA COMPLIANCE)
● Choose the type of account you wish to create.
● Complete the requested information.
● When choosing your school, begin typing “Greater Nanticoke Area” into the box to bring up the GNA School District.
STEP 2. Link the parent/guardian account to the student(s) account. You will be led through this process after creating an account. If you do not link accounts at the time of account creation, you can always click the “LINK ACCOUNT” button at any time to complete or initiate the linking process. Parents/guardians can link to as many student accounts as they wish by repeating the linking invitation process.
TIP: Make sure you use the correct graduation year in the student account as future athletic eligibility is determined by this input.
STEP 3. Complete Athletic Forms as advised. Students with accounts may begin completing digital forms immediately. Parents must be linked to a student account to see the electronic version of the forms. If they are not linked, they will only see example PDF versions of the forms. You can complete forms or see their status at any time by clicking on the “ATHLETIC FORMS” button. Please check the boxes for all sports in which you are interested, for the fall, winter and spring athletic seasons. These may be changed at any time during the school year.
Here is a video to assist in creating your parent/guardian and student accounts and completing the forms: https://bigteams.my.site.com/support/s/article/Parents-Create-Your-Students-Account
For additional help please refer to the one-page help-guide below, access the complete online forms tips located in the light green bar at the top of the Athletic Forms page in your account or use the green self-help button located on the top of your screen.
Parents/guardians and students are required to sign or initial all sections of the forms as required by the PIAA. Athletes cannot participate in sports until digital forms are complete and approved unless otherwise specified by the school. Forms will be valid for the entire school year for which they are filled out, including the physical exam form signed by a physician. Once an athlete’s forms are completed for their initial sport of the year, subsequent registrations will follow the re-certification process which will become available for the winter and spring seasons.
Completing and having your Pre-Participation Registration Forms accepted by your school does NOT guarantee you have made the team.
If you need assistance with BigTeams or need more information, please consult the help documents found here https://bigteams.force.com/support/s/ or email schoolsupport@planeths.com.
FOR RETURNING FAMILIES WHO HAVE ESTABLISHED ACCOUNTS
Linked families can now use ONE account login to complete ALL forms. Families can now login using their PARENT account, sign the forms as a parent and they use the new SIGN IN AS button to access the forms as the student without logging out of the PARENT account.
Watch the video here for instructions on this procedure: https://bigteams.my.site.com/support/s/article/Parent-Sign-In-As-Feature-Student-Central
SPORTS PHYSICALS
PIAA regulations require that all student-athletes of the Greater Nanticoke Area SD receive a physical examination prior to their participation in interscholastic athletics. This physical must be performed and dated no earlier than May 1, 2024, and shall be effective, regardless of when performed during a school year, until the latter of April 30, 2025, or the conclusion of the 2025 spring sports season. Failure to turn in paperwork prior to the start of tryouts for your sport will result in a loss of participation for the upcoming season (until all necessary paperwork is received, and at the discretion of the coach/athletic department).
Prior to each season, our sports medicine partner, Geisinger Orthopedics, will provide an opportunity to obtain a free physical exam for athletes who would like one. It will take place at Geisinger Orthopedics Clinic (1175 East Mountain Boulevard, Wilkes-Barre) on a date and time to be announced. More information on that exam and its requirements will be released on the homepage and our social media pages when it is finalized. Athletes wishing to take advantage of this opportunity must be registered on Student Central prior to the exam.
This exam may also be obtained from a doctor of your choice or as an alternative, some urgent care facilities perform athletic physical exams. Section 5 (Health History) and Section 6 (blank Physical Form) must be printed out in order to have a physician complete and sign the Section 6 form. When all forms are completed and submitted online, click on the “Print Version Here” link that is found at the top of the Section 5 form. This will print both forms which may then be taken to the physical exam. The Section 6 form can also be downloaded at the bottom of this page, or it can be picked up at the high school athletic office. Following the exam, the completed Section 6 form must be submitted to the Athletic Department, which can be done by uploading it directly within this registration or dropping it off at the athletic office.
Anyone attending physical exams at the Geisinger Orthopedics site must bring these forms with them or they will not receive an exam.
REMINDER: ATHLETIC PHYSICAL EXAMS FOR THE 2024-25 SCHOOL YEAR MUST BE COMPLETED ON OR AFTER MAY 1, 2024. THESE EXAMS ARE THEN VALID FOR THE ENTIRE SCHOOL YEAR.
Quick Account Instructions for account creation via mobile device:
To link using a mobile device, send a text to 69274 containing S45433 in the message. Once you send the code you will immediately receive a text back with a hyperlink to create your account. (Msg & Data rates may apply. Text HELP to 69274 for more information. Text STOP to 69274 to opt out. Msg & Data rates may apply. The wireless carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. Number of messages vary per user).
SPORTS RE-CERTIFICATION - WINTER AND SPRING SPORTS ONLY
For athletes who previously played a sport during the 2024-25 school year.
Go to https://studentcentral.bigteams.com/ and login to the existing Parent account (must be linked with student). Click on "Athletic Forms".
Based on the sports selected in the "Registered Sports" section, students participating in fall and winter sports will be shown form Section 7: Re-Certification by Parent/Guardian (Winter) as a new requirement. When students submit the Section 7 form, if any questions are answered "YES," they will be presented with form requirement: Section 8: Re-Certification by Licensed Physician (Winter). If all questions on Section 7 are answered "NO" then no further action will be needed after both student and parent sign the form.
This same logic will be in place for Spring 2025 where students that participate in a Fall and/or Winter sport and also a Spring sport will be presented with Section 7: Re-Certification by Parent/Guardian (SPRING) and Section 8: Re-Certification by Licensed Physician (SPRING) if any question on Section 7 is answered "YES."
If the student is not showing the Section 7 form, but you know they should be, go to the student's "Registered Sports" section, and be sure multiple sports are selected and that at least two of the sports occur in different seasons.
Click here for a video to assist you in the re-certification process.
LINKS OF INTEREST FOR HELP AND MORE INFORMATION
BigTeams Student Central – Create Your Account Help Guide
BigTeams Student Central - Re-Certification Process
Student Central Registration Login Page
PIAA Section 6 – CIPPE Physicians Certification Form (Physical Form)
PIAA Section 8 - CIPPE Re-Certification by Physician Form
Sports offered at Nanticoke Area for the 2024-25 school year, their official start dates and grades they are offered include:
FALL SPORTS
(Season begins on August 5 for football, August 12 for all other sports)
Football – Grades 7-12
Field Hockey – Grades 7-12
Girls Volleyball – Grades 9-12
Junior High Volleyball (boys and girls) – Grades 7 & 8
Boys Soccer – Grades 9-12
Girls Soccer – Grades 9-12
Junior High Soccer (boys and girls) – Grades 7 & 8
Boys Cross Country – Grades 7-12
Girls Cross Country – Grades 7-12
Golf (boys and girls) – Grades 9-12
Girls Tennis (co-op at Hanover Area) – Grades 7-12
WINTER SPORTS
(Season begins on November 15)
Boys Basketball – Grades 7-12
Girls Basketball – Grades 7-12
Boys Wrestling – Grades 7-12
Girls Wrestling – Grades 7-12
Boys Swimming – Grades 9-12
Girls Swimming – Grades 9-12
SPRING SPORTS
(Season begins on March 3)
Baseball – Grades 7-12
Softball – Grades 7-12
Boys Track & Field – Grades 7-12
Girls Track & Field – Grades 7-12
Boys Volleyball – Grades 9-12