2025-26 Nighthawk Athletics (Cross Country and/or Track & Field): Eligibility & Registration

Updated 11/19//2025.

Read the 2025-26 General Information & Schedule page here first! [LINK COMING]

Mandatory team registration & orientation meetings
Registration is open until two days prior; online pre-registration required.

• Fall Cross Country: Monday, June 2, 2025, at 6:45 P.M. (Hanover City Hall).
  This is earlier than normal due to the State Track & Field meet scheduling changes.
• Spring Track & Field: Tuesday, January 13, 2026,  at 7:00 P.M. (Hanover City Hall)

This will be a combination of paperwork management and group meeting.
See Team Calendar for details and links.

• All online and paper forms and fees (including sports physicals) are due at this time.
  Late registrations/paperwork are subject to late fees and not guaranteed participation.
• All athletes plus at least one parent per family must attend the group meeting.
  If you absolutely cannot attend the meeting, you must meet with the NHAC Athletic Director in person before the meeting to sign the MSHSL group paperwork, but no later than the day before the meeting.

Eligibility

• We are a team of homeschooled student-athletes. "Homeschooled students" in the State of Minnesota are those who submit an Initial Report or annual Letter of Intent to their school district (example here).
  Students enrolled in online public/private schools (e.g., Harmony Education, MN Connections Academy, etc.) are ineligible.
• PSEO students: If you are age 17+ and enrolled in PSEO but not reporting to your district: contact us for instructions.
  The MSHSL restricts participation in extracurricular activities to the high school level. If you are considering college-level sports, fine arts, or other activities, contact us before registering to determine eligibility. See additional information here.
• New participants must reside within an 18-mile radius (as the crow flies) of Hanover City Hall, 11250 5th St. NE, Hanover, MN, 55341.
• We LOVE new athletes! :) No experience necessary; there's a place on this team for everyone--from beginners to All-State athletes and everything in between.
• Multi-sport athletes participating on more than one team in the same season must communicate with the coaches before registering to determine if this team is a good fit for their schedules, training loads, and injury risks.

Please report your student's grade based on expected graduation year, regardless of schoolwork level in any subject, as there are years-of-participation limits. See Team Handbook or ask us for details.

Fees & Service Requirements
Your payment holds your place on the team. See limited Refund & Late Fee Policy. Fees are used to offset the costs of uniforms, race fees, league dues, insurance, equipment, supplies, maintenance, incentives and awards, coach training, and other team events. This is an entirely volunteer-run program.

• Annual Family Registration Fee: $50/family.
  This must be paid before you can login and roster your student-athletes.
  If you are waitlisted and there is not space, then this fee will be refunded.
  If you ran fall cross country in the fall and are registering for spring track & field, then you have already paid this.

• Activity Fees: per season, cross country or track & field.
  • Junior high (7^th-8^th grades): $225 (cross country only; track is not offered for grades 7-8)
  • High school (9^th-12^th grades; JV/Varsity): $250 per sport season.
    Cross country: Full fee due at the time of registration.
    Track: You may reserve your spot with 30% down (balance due at the team meeting), or pay the full fee at the time of registration.
     
• Service Requirement. Each family is expected to share their gifts/talents/services/occupation to support the team community. See information and descriptions here.

Late Registration (after the team meeting)

• Registration closes at the team registration meeting, as we immediately begin the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) team application process.
• All late registration forms and fees are subject to a $50 late fee per family and must be completed within 48 hours of approval or will be moved to the waiting list.

Sports Physicals
Due at the team registration meeting. See Refund & Late Fee Policy

• Sports Qualifying Physical Exam Clearance Form must be dated within 3 years of the start of the sport season.
  Call early to make your appointments. If all else fails, try a Minute Clinic or similar.
• Medical considerations requiring additional paperwork must be dated within 1 year of the start of the sport season. Also due at the meeting. Example: Asthma Action Plan if you will be using an inhaler--must include doctor's signature releasing use of medication.
• Exceptions:
  • First-time team families may submit their medical paperwork up to 4 weeks after the team meeting. However, at registration they must provide a sports physical appointment date to avoid waitlists and late fees. Student-athletes may only participate in pre-season (summer, captain's practices, etc.) runs if they have submitted the required medical forms.
• Medical forms are retained in NHAC files but not sent to the League. You do not have to resubmit unless it is expiring.

Registration is a 3-step process.
All forms and fees are due before the team registration meeting.

1. Complete your general registration forms--there are online (NHAC) and paper (MSHSL) forms.
2. Await membership approval by email (this could take 1-2 days--longer for prospective new families).
3. Login, roster your athletes, and pay your fees.

There are many forms and pages, so please read carefully!
Plan to spend time on these before the meeting. All of this paperwork is the same as if you were to participate in sports at a non-district high school. All MSHSL membership forms & fees will be submitted by the team as a whole--do not send anything directly to the MSHSL.

• Online Forms (Nighthawks) to complete before the Registration meeting: See instructions below.
• Printed Forms (MSHSL) to bring to the Registration meeting: The online system will direct you to these during the Registration process.

We (NHAC) and the MSHSL will do everything we can to alert you to deadlines, but ultimately you are responsible to keep your MSHSL membership and your student-athlete's eligibility in good standing.

As always, let us know if you have any questions. We're looking forward to having you on the team!

REGISTRATION INFORMATION:
About those waiting lists... The priority system is meant to be as fair as possible while maintaining the team community from season to season: https://www.homeschool-life.com/2515/faq/. Being granted a slot on the cross country team does not guarantee a spot on the track & field team or vice versa.

*Current* team members will be given priority registration the week before registration opens to new team families.
Rostering requires membership renewal.

If your family did not participate in the most recent sport season, then you must reapply for membership.
Example: you ran track last spring but not cross country in the fall, and it's time to register for track.
Create a new Profile and then follow the remaining steps below.

If your family participated in the most recent sport season, then you must do the following to register for the next sport season:

• Update your Profile (make sure information is current, check some new boxes, submit some new forms, read the updated handbook, print out the paperwork, etc.) so you can log into the system. Start here: https://www.homeschool-life.com/2515/profile
• Add siblings to your Profile for potential (not guaranteed) rostering/waitlisting.
• Team families returning to cross country who did not run track & field (or vice versa) will need to wait for Admin approval before completing the next steps.
• Roster your athletes (go to Team Members' Area-->ROSTER Your Athletes).
• Pay the activity fees (click "Balance" at the very top of the screen).
• Doublecheck your Roster status by clicking here: https://www.homeschool-life.com/2515/class/checkout

*New* team members will have the opportunity to register after current team families, space permitting.
See Team Calendar for opening and closing dates.
Contact us to inquire about available space before taking time to go through the registration process.

Mandatory team registration & orientation meeting (online pre-registration required): see dates at the top of this page.