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Gardner Newman is changing the script. The school, under the direction of new athletic director Tia Sheffield, will become the first middle school in the county to schedule a day for free physicals for any student interested in playing a sport in the 2023-24 school year.

“A lot of kids don’t end up going to tryouts because they don’t get a physical in time,” Sheffield said. “They have to set an appointment, some of them don’t have insurance, so there are a lot of steps the parents have to take just for their kid to try out. 

“I believe this will be a way to get even more kids to try out for these sports.”

This opportunity has been available at the high school level in Troup County, but never at the middle school level according to Sheffield. This was a major goal for Sheffield when she took the athletic director position.

“They have done it at the high school level for years, and I can remember them doing it even when I was at Troup,” Sheffield said. “It has never been something that has been done at the middle school level, and it is something I wanted to accomplish right when I get in the door.”

Any student at Gardner Newman can get a free physical on Tuesday, Aug. 8.

“The kids won’t have to go anywhere,” Sheffield said. “We will have providers from Emory clinic come here.”