WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Health and Human Services is offering $10 million in prizes and equipment vouchers to schools and youth organizations that implement the Presidential Fitness Test, using federal incentives to expand the revived fitness program nationwide.
The Presidential Fitness School Innovation Challenge is open to eligible schools, school districts, state and local education agencies, and youth-serving organizations. Participants must register, administer the fitness test to students and submit entries by Feb. 5, 2027.
HHS divided the competition into two tracks, with most of the funding directed toward organizations that can demonstrate results from implementing the test.
The first track will distribute $7 million in cash prizes ranging from $20,000 to $1 million. Applicants must show how they implemented the Presidential Fitness Test, provide results and lessons from the effort, and outline how the program could be sustained or expanded.
A second track will provide $3 million in equipment vouchers and recognition awards. Vouchers ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 will go to organizations that create what HHS describes as an encouraging testing experience and have plans to use fitness and sports equipment to support continued physical activity.
Winners are expected to be selected in spring 2027.
The competition expands the federal government’s effort to restore the Presidential Fitness Test as a measure and incentive for physical activity among young people. The test operates through the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition.
“Fitness should be about more than a score,” Assistant Secretary for Health Brian Christine said. “It should be about helping young people discover what they are capable of, setting goals, working hard, and coming back stronger.”
HHS introduced the competition at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, where federal officials and members of the President’s Council attended fitness-test activities with students.
The department also launched Fitness.gov as a central source for instructional materials, eligibility requirements, registration information and competition rules.
Participants will be invited to join a community of practice intended to allow schools and organizations to exchange approaches and lessons from implementing the fitness program.
The initiative uses financial incentives to encourage adoption of the test while giving HHS a pool of participating organizations from which it can evaluate different implementation strategies.
Organizations seeking to compete can find application requirements and challenge rules at https://fitness.gov.
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