Athlete transfers may face big hurdle

If the Utah High School Activities Association gets what it wants, students will have to play sports for the schools in their neighborhoods or not at all for a full school year.

No varsity, no junior varsity, no practices. Nothing, unless you live within the school's boundaries.

Despite several rule changes over the past half-dozen years, the UHSAA staff said they are unable to enforce the state's central transfer rule, which is that students shall not transfer from one high school to another for athletic reasons.

"We've tried everything," said UHSAA director Evan Excell at a Board of Trustees meeting Thursday. The board voted unanimously to approve the proposed constitutional amendment. The rule, which is still very vague and could contain some exceptions, will undergo a second reading in March, and if it passes, every member school will get a ballot and have the chance to vote on the issue.

The most substantial change would be that even on first entry (as a freshman, sophomore or move-in), a student athlete would be ineligible for any level of competition, including practices, if he or she doesn't live in that school's boundaries.

"We've been persuaded that the rule we've been using on first entry and transfers is inadequate in influencing students not to transfer for athletics," said UHSAA attorney Mark Van Wagoner. "We don't have all of the details worked out, but we're attempting to make the least burdensome rule."

The UHSAA's transfer rules were changed as recently as last spring when it was determined that some students were persuaded to attend schools outside their home school boundaries after attending summer camps at other schools or playing on club teams with those students or for those coaches. All of the changes to the rules and to the hearings process, however, have not curtailed the number of students transferring for athletic reasons, nor has it made it easier for the UHSAA to investigate and enforce possible violations.

"We have found it to be almost impossible to enforce," Van Wagoner said. "We have students who are transferring for what we see as phony reasons. We now believe that perhaps the best way to deal with transfers is with a residential requirement."

Van Wagoner said the committee that recommended the rule change and the UHSAA staff are convinced improper transfers are "occurring in every sport. It's insidious, and it's skewing high school sports. We attempt to seek those cases and bring them to a hearing."

Even the hearing process, however, will likely be overhauled if the play-where-you-live rule is adopted.