Sixth graders at Bethesda-area middle schools can now sign up for interscholastic athletics after Montgomery County Public Schools expanded eligibility for the 2026-27 school year.

Registration opened Monday, Aug. 10, with sixth graders eligible to compete alongside seventh and eighth graders for the first time since MCPS restored middle school sports during the 1996-97 school year, The MoCo Show reported.

The policy change affects five middle schools that feed into Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Walt Whitman and Walter Johnson high schools: Westland, Silver Creek, Thomas W. Pyle, North Bethesda and Tilden.

Fall sports on offer are boys' and girls' slow-pitch softball and coed cross country. The first day of school is Tuesday, Aug. 25, meaning newly eligible athletes could be competing within days of classes starting.

That's a big deal. Previously, sixth graders entering any of those five schools had to wait a full year before trying out for school teams.

MCPS said the interscholastic program gives students with an interest or talent in athletics additional opportunities to develop their skills beyond physical education and intramural offerings.

The district has not released enrollment figures showing how many sixth graders across the affected schools might participate. As we reported Aug. 11, classes begin Aug. 25 across the district.

Parents looking to register their sixth graders should check with their school's athletic department for tryout dates before classes begin Aug. 25.