CHARLESTON, W.Va. — One of the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission rule proposals that did pass during Thursday’s state board of education meeting is intended to help eliminate transfers within a county during the season.
The rule was written in the board’s agenda as an effort to ‘limit participation to a bona fide move of at least one county away to help limit the number of transfers based solely upon athletic participation.’
Essentially, if a student athlete begins playing a sport at School A, gets disgruntled and transfers to School B (within one county away) in-season, that athlete won’t be allowed to play the same sport at School B in that same season.
“They would be eligible for other sports, but not for the sport in which they left,” said SSAC executive director Gary Ray. “Principals, athletic directors and coaches are finding that a lot of times athletes will get disgruntled and then want to jump over to a school nearby. This will put a stop to that, we hope.”
SSAC proposals that passed the state board vote:
1) to allow schools to maintain a freshman team, but play a junior varsity football team without losing eligibility
2) to limit participation to a bona fide move of at least one county away to help limit the number of transfers based solely upon athletic participation
3) to clarify current rule
4) to align rule 127-3-9.6.c with current testing procedure
5) to clarify current rules and bring rules in line with a West Virginia Supreme Court decision
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