Politicians need to stay out of athletics

Memo to state legislators: Butt out.

Stay out of high school sports.

Find something else to meddle with.

Oh, wait, we're supposed to tone down the rhetoric.

Butt out … pa-lease.

Remember the little drama that began last summer when the state Legislature, led by Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, wanted to turn the high school transfer rule on its head by having NO RULES WHATSOEVER? A kid could transfer anytime, anywhere. He could play three different sports for three different schools in one school year.

That was a doozie, wasn't it? Which is why legislators went back to work on the bill and modified it. The hope was that common sense would prevail, and they'd forget the whole business when the Legislature reconvened last month.

No such luck.

The Legislature has come back with another dopey proposal called Senate Bill 53, this time with a new starting quarterback, Mark Madsen, R-Eagle Mountain.

Now they're proposing that students — and by this we mean "athletes" — have a certain time frame in which they can transfer. Between Dec. 1 and June 30 of each school year, students can request a transfer to another school. Which means student-athletes (or, in this case, "athlete-students") could play for four high schools in four years.

I've been a high school track coach for 20 years, and I can't think of a worse proposal for high school sports, period. I believe most coaches would agree.

The Utah High School Activities Association — remember them, the experts who are paid to do this sort of thing? — are also unhappy about it, and you would be, too, if you care about a level playing field. I do.

This is the sort of maneuver that UHSAA officials expect from stage parents, not their own legislators. They're supposed to be on the same team.

Last June, the UHSAA's board of trustees passed a rule, effective Sept. 1, that students could attend any high school upon first entry, but after that they would lose one year of athletic eligibility if they transfer (with the usual exception for hardship cases). It formalized the way the transfer rule had been working for years anyway, since it was nearly impossible to stop kids from choosing an out-of-boundary school upon initial entry under the open enrollment law.