ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — High school athletes will have an extra hoop to jump through before they take the field or court soon.

Florida legislators passed a new law requiring heart scans for student athletes beginning in the 2026-2027 school year.

Several St. Johns County families got ahead of the curve on the new requirement by attending a screening event organized by the nonprofit Who We Play For at TWF gym in Julington Creek.

“My mom wanted me to get my heart checked,” basketball player Weston Reeder said.

Reeder was one of 37 young athletes to strap in for a heart scan during an event.

“Felt like jelly,” Reeder said. “Very weird.”

That “very weird” five minutes was enough to find out if he has any heart conditions that would put him at risk of sudden cardiac arrest.

“In nearly every session I’ve conducted — whether it’s with five kids or 150, there’s almost always one,” shared heart screening director Melissa Hartman. “It’s something often overlooked because you don’t feel it. Typically, there are no symptoms, and it suddenly occurs without warning.”

Hartman became involved with Who We Play For, a nonprofit that provides heart screenings, after working as an athletic trainer and experiencing it firsthand.

“I’ve seen young men die on a court in a volleyball tournament, and it changes you,” Hartman said.

Hartman says the demand for heart scans is about to skyrocket with the new Florida law, requiring that all high schoolers get one before they play any sports beginning in the 2026-2027 school year.

Students will only have to do it once while they’re in school, and Hartman says they have a few options: They can go to a Who We Play For screening event, visit a physician or go through their school’s athletic department.

She says every athletic trainer at Duval County High Schools has a machine.

Hartman says any tests done now will still count once the law takes effect.

“There’s no need to wait, and you don’t want to wait either because there’s only so many volunteers, there’s only so many physicians to read these, and we could have a backlog if you wait until the very end,” Hartman said.

“I wish I’d had this when I was younger because I was diagnosed with a heart condition when I was a child, so to have this screening where I can go get checked and know something is wrong in advance would’ve certainly done me a lot of good,” Kenneth Tucker said while his son got a screening.

Who We Play For has two more area events scheduled, one in Interlachen in July and another in Nocatee in August.

You can find dates, times and how to register for those events on the Who We Play For website.