High School Transfer

[GoldElite]

Anyone know the rules for transferring high schools with regard to athletic participation?

Specifically an incoming sophomore who played freshman and some JV...is a release needed? Is it necessary to provide a reason for the transfer? Even if it is connected with athletics, can't you just say 'other'? Is it the same for all sports?

[TiredNbroke]

According to the IHSAA eligibility brochure, an incoming sophomore would have to sit out a year before they could play for another school that they opted to transfer to and they cannot transfer for the main purpose of sports. I believe it goes for any sport- as in they played basketball and now they want to play softball. But, this is just my interpretation. Anyone else??

[David Lauck]

The receiving school's AD would initiate the process by filing a transfer report with the IHSAA. After the receiving school completes their portion of the report, the sending school will fill out their portion. Both school will make a recommendation for eligibility (ie. full, partial, or no eligibility). An administrator from both schools will make a recommendation. If both schools recommend full, then 99.9% of the time, that student will receive full eligibility immediately. In many instances, the sending school will recommend partial or no eligibility; this is where it gets a little dicey. And I don't have the time to explain on this forum what all takes place...

[Here We Go]

So here's my question, I think it's no secret that the IHSAA bases most of its rules on boys basketball, would they even care if its a softball player?

Also why not just transfer schools without saying anything about athletics? I'm sure there are probably a million ways to get around it.

I know there are plenty of High school coaches on here so maybe you can answer this, if you are an athlete does that automatically mean you have to fill out the waivers even if it's not for athletics?

[GoldElite]

My choice of words might have caused some confusion.

The reason for the transfer is/was not athletics. . In reality, the HS program student athlete is leaving is much stronger than program they would be entering. But I do need to know how to prepare (or what to prepare for) as the child does participate in athletics.

Again, incoming Sophomore. Has not been roster on a varsity team. Does it make a difference if they haven't played varsity sports?

[slapperdad]

I'll add my two cents to multiple posts:

"I think it's no secret that the IHSAA bases most of its rules on boys basketball, would they even care if its a softball player?"

The IHSAA stands for Indiana High School Athletic Association, not the Indiana High School Basketball Association, if it involves a student athlete in any of the 20 sports they administer, they are involved. I will agree that a fair amount of the rules/rule changes are the result of abuses by Basketball, but they're certainly not alone in that.

"Also why not just transfer schools without saying anything about athletics?"

I don't think there's any getting around the fact that you were an athlete at school A, you changed to school B and you're an athlete there now.

"I'm sure there are probably a million ways to get around it."

As Lauck said, the responsibility lies with the receiving school. Here's the thing, I graduated from Seymour High School, I pay taxes in the Seymour district, I expect/demand that Seymour High School plays by the rules. It's just the right thing to do. Anything less is unacceptable to me as a citizen and a tax payer.

"if you are an athlete does that automatically mean you have to fill out the waivers even if it's not for athletics?"

Yes, Lauck is a high school administrator, he's telling you what has to happen.

"The reason for the transfer is/was not athletics."

It doesn't matter, a transfer is a transfer, if it involves an athlete, you have to do the paperwork.

"Again, incoming Sophomore. Has not been roster on a varsity team. Does it make a difference if they haven't played varsity sports?"

Lauck can correct me if I'm wrong, but level of play is irrelevant. I've seen sub-varsity kids move to another school 15 minutes away were instant V starters.

[PDad]

The reason for the transfer is/was not athletics. . In reality, the HS program student athlete is leaving is much stronger than program they would be entering.

Going to a weaker program shouldn't be a factor. Some kids transfer to get more playing time.

[slapperdad]

Agreed Spaz, however you need to understand a couple of things:

1. Our state is entirely open enrollment. That means, I could send my kid to literally any public school in the state, free of charge, and some parochial's as well if they're a good enough athlete.
2. This open enrollment deal was part of our property tax lawsuit settlement from several years back. It was an unintended consequence of lawmakers.....gee that sounds like a recurring theme.
3. The high school athletic governing board, IHSAA, had some rules in place to keep ship jumping from happening, but as this has gone on now, it has become more out of control than ever before, thus new rules needed to be implemented. As has been mentioned, this is much more pervasive in the revenue sports of Football and Men's Basketball.
4. I TOTALLY buy GoldElite's premise that this is for academic reasons. There are some schools out there that have tremendous offerings of AP and Dual Credit courses that can save parents BIG BUCKS when it comes time to send junior/juniorette off to college. For instance my son entered Ball State as basically a Sophomore. I can rattle many kids off the top of my head who've graduated with an undergrad degree in three years. When you figure a state school such as Ball State, is upwards of 23K a year, that's a HUGE savings for whoever is footing the bill. I won't even go into fine arts or technical offerings that some schools have over others. The result of these instances where kids transfer due to non-academic reasons, gets us to the point of where we are with transfer rules. While I would agree that 99% of the time, it's a non-issue, that 1% can cause heap big problems.

[GoldElite]

For what it's worth, this topic was not relevant to my DD. We are perfectly happy with her program...ummm, I mean school...

Thanks for the response slapper...was relying on your comments as you know you are generally spot on.

[gc39]

Then I can say I had the .01 percent that was approved by both schools and not granted full time. We actually received full approval from school she left and sent over to ihsaa. Played one game that season went on spring break came back and ihsaa decided she was ineligible for one calendar year dating back to her final game of last season. Someone wrote into ihsaa and complained that she moved for athletic reasons only although this person didn't have to sign name ihsaa went along with it and penalized her. Ironically the following season ihsaa made a rule that you must give name if you send in an accusation right after it. She sat whole season came back for our tourney run as her first game back was sectional semifinals