PA Athletic Directors Assn makes proposal on athlete transfers

[Tom McAndrew]

With the Blue-White game this past weekend, I was traveling a lot, partying a lot, etc., and missed this piece of news when it came out.

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Directors Association (PSADA) has drafted a proposal for dealing with student-athletes that transfer high schools in PA. They are presenting the proposal to PIAA at the PIAA's board of directors meeting in May.

Transfers are not as big a deal in wrestling as they are in football and basketball. However, they do occur. The proposal would basically make an athlete ineligible to play varsity sports for 1 year if they transferred after starting 9th grade, except for 5 exceptions:

1. a bona fide move by a parent (they actually move, as opposed to renting an apartment in another district)
2. a change of custody by a court of common pleas
3. closure of the school
4. a hardship case, such as bullying or harassment, at the previous school
5. a transfer to a public school from a private school (interestingly, in a student transferred from a public to a private they would be ineligible)

You can read more about the proposal at THIS LINK.

One can only guess how the PIAA will react to the proposal.

 

[Clarion167]

Piaa will wiff on this. BTW Zain would meet exceptions 1. Family still lives in Benton. 4. You may argue he was not bullied before the transfer but he surely was harassed after.

 

[CropDuster507]

This is more or less how it's done in MN. Still have our fair share of athletic transfers and people who skirt the rules, but it's a little more in the accountability department.

 

[hlstone]

Wrestlers in PA can transfer to Sem freely since Sem does not compete in PIAA. My daughter could get a full ride to Sem for wrestling, they can recruit her for that sport, but not for field hockey or lacrosse.

P.S. Tom, I did not know they changed the time of the PSU FH alumni game. We showed up an hour late oops. If you were there, I am pissed that I missed you.

 

[El-Jefe]

Interesting. One of my neighbors is a PSADA board member; if I get an opportunity, I might ask about these and the thinking about them. (No promises!)

#4 seems like a loophole you could drive a tractor trailer thru sideways. I mean, what kid doesn't get harassed in HS? Something needing a lot more definition to prevent abuse.

#5 will probably be highly controversial. First, in many cases private schools provide better education than the local public option. Second, it sets up conflict with other rules -- for example, if I move to the upper NW corner and enroll kids in Erie Prep, which rule takes precedence, #1 or #5?

Another scenario that would test #5: some schools have sports sharing agreements -- for example, Northwest doesn't have wrestling, so their guys have competed for Benton. What if one of those kids transfers to a nearby private school that has wrestling, without moving? Would he be ineligible for wrestling even though his in-residence school does not offer the sport?

Would also be curious about the enforcement mechanism -- do the schools self-report transfers, or is it the current back-stabbing method?

 

[Real-Lion]

With the Blue-White game this past weekend, I was traveling a lot, partying a lot, etc., and missed this piece of news when it came out.

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Directors Association (PSADA) has drafted a proposal for dealing with student-athletes that transfer high schools in PA. They are presenting the proposal to PIAA at the PIAA's board of directors meeting in May.

Transfers are not as big a deal in wrestling as they are in football and basketball. However, they do occur. The proposal would basically make an athlete ineligible to play varsity sports for 1 year if they transferred after starting 9th grade, except for 5 exceptions:

1. a bona fide move by a parent (they actually move, as opposed to renting an apartment in another district)
2. a change of custody by a court of common pleas
3. closure of the school
4. a hardship case, such as bullying or harassment, at the previous school
5. a transfer to a public school from a private school (interestingly, in a student transferred from a public to a private they would be ineligible)

You can read more about the proposal at THIS LINK.

One can only guess how the PIAA will react to the proposal.

Is Blair private ?

 

[hlstone]

Is Blair private ?

Yes and they can recruit for wrestling.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

P.S. Tom, I did not know they changed the time of the PSU FH alumni game. We showed up an hour late oops. If you were there, I am pissed that I missed you.

my bad. On Friday, I checked with a contact as to when the game was scheduled for. It did seem to be at a different time. I meant to make a "hey histone, I'll see you at the FH game" post, but didn't get to it as I was trying to depart and avoid rush hour traffic.

I actually walked around the stands, and the outside of the stadium, a few times during the game, looking for your daughter and for you. I'm guessing that by the time you got to the field, the team and the alums were in the clubhouse, having a meal. (In past years they've done that in the park, behind the stands. I'm not sure if they changed that this year due to the threat of rain, or because it was easier to set it up inside the locker room.)

Char saw me, and said, "hi Tom, thanks for coming." I was stunned that she even remembered my name.

Sorry that I missed you/your wife/your daughter.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Is Blair private ?

what does that have to do with the proposal? Blair Academy is located in New Jersey, so it's not covered by PIAA rules.

 

[nitlion6]

It could be that in an interest of being all covering and perfect they may be overthinking things a bit.

Numbers 1 and 2 should be absolute and set in stone and others used as a guideline.

 

[hlstone]

my bad. On Friday, I checked with a contact as to when the game was scheduled for. It did seem to be at a different time. I meant to make a "hey histone, I'll see you at the FH game" post, but didn't get to it as I was trying to depart and avoid rush hour traffic.

I actually walked around the stands, and the outside of the stadium, a few times during the game, looking for your daughter and for you. I'm guessing that by the time you got to the field, the team and the alums were in the clubhouse, having a meal. (In past years they've done that in the park, behind the stands. I'm not sure if they changed that this year due to the threat of rain, or because it was easier to set it up inside the locker room.)

Char saw me, and said, "hi Tom, thanks for coming." I was stunned that she even remembered my name.

Sorry that I missed you/your wife/your daughter.

She will be at a St Joe's tourney this Sat. I hope to make it if it's early. Team Majestyx.

Also my Lax teams are undefeated this year, not to brag

 

[Callthestall]

2 comments. I live about 20 minutes from Blair, been there many times. Beautiful campus and brand new sports complex. They don't do much recruiting, the wrestler seeks them,kinda like Penn State. Cost about 35,000 a year.
District 11 has had a problem for years with Transfers. The district will rule against the transfer ,then the parents appeal it to PIAA and they will allow it. The craziest transfer I saw was 2 year's in a row Crivallaro played football for Beca and wrestled for Easton.

 

[Sam Spade 80]

A lot of you guys probably follow high school sports more than I do, so what is the main reason people get so upset about transfers? Is it just because people don't want their local school to lose a good athlete? If a kid really has a better opportunity to improve himself or earn a college scholarship by moving somewhere else, should they be denied that opportunity because some adults take winning and losing in high school sports too seriously. I was disappointed when Spencer Lee left my old school in Saegertown, but I wouldn't expect him to sacrifice his opportunities just so I could say my school won some wrestling titles. (By the way, we did win one this year - Cody Mulligan, AA champ at 182 lbs.) Just my 2 cents.

 

[El-Jefe]

A lot of you guys probably follow high school sports more than I do, so what is the main reason people get so upset about transfers? Is it just because people don't want their local school to lose a good athlete? If a kid really has a better opportunity to improve himself or earn a college scholarship by moving somewhere else, should they be denied that opportunity because some adults take winning and losing in high school sports too seriously. I was disappointed when Spencer Lee left my old school in Saegertown, but I wouldn't expect him to sacrifice his opportunities just so I could say my school won some wrestling titles. (By the way, we did win one this year - Cody Mulligan, AA champ at 182 lbs.) Just my 2 cents.

Some of that, but probably as much or more the build-up of artificial powerhouses. Nobody likes to get clobbered in a dual by an all-star team.

Plus the feeling (true or not) that some schools recruit, and some in junior high. Some people find that distasteful.

 

[Gebmo]

A lot of you guys probably follow high school sports more than I do, so what is the main reason people get so upset about transfers? Is it just because people don't want their local school to lose a good athlete? If a kid really has a better opportunity to improve himself or earn a college scholarship by moving somewhere else, should they be denied that opportunity because some adults take winning and losing in high school sports too seriously. I was disappointed when Spencer Lee left my old school in Saegertown, but I wouldn't expect him to sacrifice his opportunities just so I could say my school won some wrestling titles. (By the way, we did win one this year - Cody Mulligan, AA champ at 182 lbs.) Just my 2 cents.

Some of that, but probably as much or more the build-up of artificial powerhouses. Nobody likes to get clobbered in a dual by an all-star team.

Plus the feeling (true or not) that some schools recruit, and some in junior high. Some people find that distasteful.

There is more also. If a private school recruits and it is good for the kid, I say have at it, but it happens at public schools. My kids go to a big school, good sports, very high taxes. Kids come all the time (illegally) especially for football and baseball, and the parents “fake” an address in the district. Its one of those well known secrets. They most of the time pay half the taxes I do where they live….but my taxes pay for their kid to take a spot from someone else.

Happened to my own son (baseball) and plenty of others I know over the years. You work your butt off and the spot you earned is given away with no explanation or chance to fight it. Most of the time these people get away with it because people in the district want a better team so won’t say anything (especially if the kid is a superstar). The only times I know of that people reported it was when a parent was PD2ish and ticked everyone off.

I’m not complaining, just giving some of the things that I know got people angry regularly in our district.

Point is that as long as a move is legit, most people have no issue with it. Everyone likes a better team. If a family moves, no one should say a word. None of their business why. If they fake it.....that is something else.

What bothered me the most about what I saw was that the parents were “teaching” all the kids (and mine) that cheating was ok….as long as you didn’t get caught. Their kids many times are great kids, but look what they are learning from the parent…..put yourself ahead at any cost and don’t worry about anyone else, or right and wrong. The lack of values and concern for others was sad.

 

[FineMaterial]

Interesting. One of my neighbors is a PSADA board member; if I get an opportunity, I might ask about these and the thinking about them. (No promises!)

#4 seems like a loophole you could drive a tractor trailer thru sideways. I mean, what kid doesn't get harassed in HS? Something needing a lot more definition to prevent abuse.

#5 will probably be highly controversial. First, in many cases private schools provide better education than the local public option. Second, it sets up conflict with other rules -- for example, if I move to the upper NW corner and enroll kids in Erie Prep, which rule takes precedence, #1 or #5?

Another scenario that would test #5: some schools have sports sharing agreements -- for example, Northwest doesn't have wrestling, so their guys have competed for Benton. What if one of those kids transfers to a nearby private school that has wrestling, without moving? Would he be ineligible for wrestling even though his in-residence school does not offer the sport?

Would also be curious about the enforcement mechanism -- do the schools self-report transfers, or is it the current back-stabbing method?

#4: If it's a real issue there will be documentation in place. I'd imagine the rule will include documentation to the point of proof. If not then yes, it could be abused.
#5 is absolutely needed. Private schools cost money. You can't force parents to pay tuition for kids to get an education, it's the American way.