High school transfer rules ...

Working on a column about a state wrestling champ in Pennsylvania who was ruled ineligible for the year after he transferred to a different school.

I'm just trying to get an idea on the transfer rules for other states within the country. Do they hold hearings within district or state committees? Are transfers allowed as long as they're not found to be for athletic purposes? Is there like an open enrollment period where you can go wherever you want?

I'm going to try and find the rules for neighboring states, but would like to hear from those out west or down south if possible.

Thanks in advance.

 

Rhody31 would know better than I would, and probably Schiz and Terrier, but I believe that in Rhode Island you're fine if it's not during the same academic year. For example, if you move from Town A to Town B in the summer months, then you can play whatever you want in Town B.

If you move during the same academic year, then it matters how many games you played. For example, if you played six basketball games, I think you have to sit out six before you can play with the new team. In effect, if you play half the season on your old team, you're ineligible. I don't think it carries over from fall to winter or spring sports.

 

Kentucky's rules:

Bylaw 6 (non-domestic transfers): http://www.khsaa.org/handbook/bylaws/bylaw6.pdf

Bylaw 7 (domestic transfers): http://www.khsaa.org/handbook/bylaws/bylaw7.pdf

 

That is , of course, unless you are transferring to a school with REALLY good sports. Then, you usually get to play even though you moved there just for sports.

We had a really messy situation last year. Kids transferred from city school to county school, who hate each other, over a weekend. Played hoops for city school on Friday, then transferred to county school on Saturday.

Supposedly was just going from living with mom to living with dad, but that was a crock. It got ugly and kid never played a sport at county school for his senior year. Parents really botched that one.

 

Don't know if it's too late for your column, but the California Interscholastic Federation has a comprehensive section on its site regarding transfer rules:

http://www.cifstate.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=159&Itemid=194

In a nutshell, if you move with your parents/guardians, or you transfer before your sophomore year, you keep your eligibility, but must sit a year if you transfer before your junior or senior year, unless you get a hardship waiver.

 

I remember that situation well. Folks were not happy in your neck of the woods.

And you're right: If you're transferring somewhere like Trinity or St. Xavier, you'll get green-lighted rather quickly. But if you move from, say, School A to School B that's just a few minutes down the road without changing residences ... well, you're pretty much screwed.

 

Green, it doesn't matter when you move - if you played a varsity sport for another school the previous season, you have to sit half the season for that sport the following year. You can get waivers to avoid the penatly though.

 

Nine weeks in Kansas if the athlete changed school districts. Eighteen weeks if the athlete transfers within the school district, even if its from public to private or vice versa.

Meaning:
If a student transfers from Garden City (USD 457) to Holcomb (USD 363), they sit out 9 weeks.
If a student transfers from Wichita North to Wichita South (within USD 259 boundaries), they sit out 18 weeks.
If a student transfers from Wichita North to Bishop Carroll (or the other way around), 18 weeks. Carroll is inside the boundaries of USD 259.

 

Kinda cool that this topic was started on here as I was researching for a story we're doing down here in Florida.

We've found that the magnet (and other choice) programs in Palm Beach County have been the easiest way for students to play for schools out of their zone. Some schools have used those magnet programs to create superpower teams. It's a little different than kids just moving into school zones or making up where they live, so we think this might be a bit more unique.

Have any of you guys noticed a problem like that in your states or areas?

 

I think magnets are

In many places it's the private schools that are the sports powers instead of the magnet schools.

But Florida doesn't have nearly as many big private schools as many areas of the country, so the magnets are the ruse.

It's all in having a school that can take anyone in the area.

 

Exactly. Do other states have this same issue, though? I know California and Michigan have a lot of magnet programs at the high school level, too.

 

One of the things that happened recently in the Albany area is that Green Tech, a very small magnet school which is new and has never had a program, was initially placed in Class AA (largest of five), even though their population would put them in the middle of the smallest class. They got moved down one division, to Class A, but they're gonna get rocked.

By the same token, one of the biggest trends in the state basketball tournaments is the success of magnet schools, because some sections place them strictly by size, so you have a school that can theoretically draw from the entire city of Buffalo playing against teams from towns of 8-10,000.

Tough decisions, these.