MONTGOMERY &045; The Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA), in conjunction with the Alabama High School Athletic Directors&Coaches Association (AHSADCA) and the Alabama Football Coaches Association (ALFCA), has approved activation of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) NATS (National Athletic Testing System) program.

Alabama is the 15th state currently scheduled to conduct a total of 21 NATS Tests during the 2007 summer campaign.

Coach Bart Sessions of Davidson High School has been appointed the state test director. The NATS Test will be conducted July 20 at Prattville High School. All high school players from all grades and all schools&045;public or private&045;are invited to attend. Athletes may register online at www.nats.us .

AHSADCA Director Steve Bailey said that the &8220;strength of partnership between the AHSAA, AHSADCA and ALFCA stems from our desire to do the right thing for student-athletes in Alabama. We are proud to activate Alabama into the NATS program.&8221;

The NATS program is a non-profit American Football Coaches Association program. In many respects the NATS program is an athletic version of the Scholastic Aptitude Test for high school football players. It is a nationwide standardized athletic test that produces results that can be used to track and compare the players’ athletic abilities and development.

NATS is also, however, a means of providing players, parents, coaches and guidance counselors important information and services pertaining to college recruiting, NCAA academic requirements, financial aid, athletic performance analysis and preparation.

Player benefits include:

-Test results and Online Player Profile provided to every college football program in the country.

-Critically important information provided on NATS website covering NCAA eligibility guidelines, recruiting rules and issues, financial aid resources and academic progress timelines.

-Online Player Profile stays in the database for the player’s entire high school career. It includes verified test results, color body photo, game statistics, academic profile, contact numbers and email for the player, his parents and high school coach.

-Streaming online test preparation videos prepare players to perform at their best.

-Personal online Core Course Calculator allows players to easily track their academic progress towards NCAA Clearinghouse requirements throughout their entire high school career.

Online Profile Updater keeps game statistics, academic status and contact information current.

Online Results Analysis report includes national percentile rankings for each athletic test as well as regional, statewide and national performance comparisons.

Also, NATS tests are presently scheduled in California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Oklahoma, Virginia and Washington during the summer.

AHSAAsports contributed to this report.