3 schools in 2 years,thoughts?

[TrainerPhil]

A very very talented female distance runner, who attends private school hear in the state of Florida, has done what athletes attending public schools couldn't do: switch schools and run for her new school the next season. Those of us involved in high school athletics know that private schools play by a different set of rules and this kind of thing happens a lot.

The thing that makes this different is:

- She ran track for School A in spring 2008. (School A has a weak track program).
- She transferred to School B and ran cross country for School B in fall 2008 (school B has a strong sports program and a history of recruiting and their team went from respectability to state title contenders with her addition).
- She transferred back to School A and ran track for School A in spring 2009.
- She has now transferred to another school School C and currently running cross country for School C (School C is a long time rival of school B).

That's 3 schools in 2 years and she has yet to run for the same school in consecutive running seasons. Now I enough about the situation to say that one of the factors for her switching schools is that she wasn't very happy with the track/cross country programs. There might be other issues as well that I don't know about, but am I the only one that thinks this is ridiculus? Shouldn't the FHSAA (florida high school athletic association) step in and investigate? Can they?

[guru]

Re: 3 schools in 2 years,thoughts?

Can they?

That's the pertinent question. Each state is different in regards to transfer rules and eligibilty.

[bman]

Why is it ridiculous?

[jhc68]

Because it is crass and exploits both the schools and the kids. And the trend is not confined to private schools in California. Look at the rosters of the big name football and B-ball HS powers from year to year.

[TrainerPhil]

Why is it ridiculous?

Well, because a high school athlete is being allowed to jump back and forth between schools at will and she is doing it because she doesn't like her current situation. Switching once isn't unheard of and every once in a while you get an athlete making a couple of switches. But she has made 3 switches in such a short period of time and to schools that compete against one another throughout the season with the total distance between each school being 7 miles. It is bizarre.

It certainly looks like these schools are "renting" her services. She is THE best distance runner in the district and region and one of the top 10 milers, 2 milers and cross country runners in the entire state.

[polevaultpower]

Most states don't allow such a thing in the first place.

[guru]

Most states don't allow such a thing in the first place.

They do things a bit different in the Sunshine State.

Not surprisingly, Florida private schools fought and killed transfer reform back in 2006.

http://blogs.tampabay.com/preps/2006/10 ... nsfer.html

[7-sided]

-this is NOT ridiculous!
-the FHSAAA should NOT step in and investigate!

TP, don't take this the wrong way (though I'm definitely taking a shot at your 'thinking'), but these kids should be able to transfer at will and compete for whichever school will admit them! Coaches and athletes who can't compete against her (or her school) need to work harder; the student-athlete should not be imprisoned by coaching/administrative/team incompetence simply because the parents live within an arbitrary district. The idea of punishing kids with "sitting out" needs to be outlawed! It's wrong and mean spirited and meant to punish kids for being able to exercise choice!

Parents, Coaches and administrators that share your 'thinking' have ruined high school sports with ideas like transfer rules (that you would like to see investigated) and uniforming uniform rules that disqualify athletes because their sports bras don't match.

[Marlow]

Don't look at me to defend ANYTHING FHSAA does. The people driving the bus there don't have a functional GPS and certainly do not know the route from experience.

[guru]

Don't look at me to defend ANYTHING FHSAA does. The people driving the bus there don't have a functional GPS and certainly do not know the route from experience.

Why does FHSAA need to be defended? They tried to do the right thing, but the private schools were the ones uninterested in fairness.

No surprise there.

[guru]

-this is NOT ridiculous!
-the FHSAAA should NOT step in and investigate!

TP, don't take this the wrong way (though I'm definitely taking a shot at your 'thinking'), but these kids should be able to transfer at will and compete for whichever school will admit them! The idea of punishing kids with "sitting out" needs to be outlawed! It's wrong and mean spirited and meant to punish kids for being able to exercise choice!

Except the constant changing of schools will almost certainly have a detrimental effect on a student-athlete's academics(which is everyone's main concern, right?), not to mention if there were no rules governing transfers there would be rampant recruiting(which happens anyway, but is tempered by the restrictions in place)

[7-sided]

Except the constant changing of schools will almost certainly have a detrimental effect on a student-athlete's academics(which is everyone's main concern, right?), not to mention if there were no rules governing transfers there would be rampant recruiting(which happens anyway, but is tempered by the restrictions in place)

That is complete nonsense peddled by the "don't transfer because we own you (but are unable to coach you properly)" crowd. There is way more data showing that student-athletes do best academically when they are at there happiest (which should be everyone's main concern, right?), then can be forged saying that transferring has a detrimental effect! Also, if that is the case, where are the transferring bans on students who want to play in a marching band? Cheerleading? Theatre arts?

Newsflash: all of these activities AND sports - well, especially sports - can have a positive effect on a student getting into college. And, if getting into college is contingent on training with the best, or along side the best, then no two-bit coach/administrator who is only looking out for their own interest should be able to get in the way of that. As for recruiting violation? There should be no rules, which means, no violations! As long as the kid in positively progressing towards a high school diploma, then there should be no issue.

The only issue that should invalidate a child's ability to play is academic progress.

[doug091463]

-this is NOT ridiculous!
-the FHSAAA should NOT step in and investigate!

TP, don't take this the wrong way (though I'm definitely taking a shot at your 'thinking'), but these kids should be able to transfer at will and compete for whichever school will admit them! The idea of punishing kids with "sitting out" needs to be outlawed! It's wrong and mean spirited and meant to punish kids for being able to exercise choice!

Except the constant changing of schools will almost certainly have a detrimental effect on a student-athlete's academics(which is everyone's main concern, right?),

wrong, when you turn on a college football or basketball game on tv just about every player is at the school because they are a good athlete, though some of the students may be outstanding in academics and a few may even have an academic scholarship they are playing for the school because of their athleticism.

example if a coach is asked how his recruiting is going and he answers well i have recruited lots of small, slow and uncoordinated guys and we will lose all of are games by 50 or more points, but these kids are really good in academics one wants to be a rocket scientist another wants to be a neurosurgeon etc, then unless he is joking he will be fired pretty quickly.

look at tyrone willingham at notre dame all of his players were graduating on time, but the won/loss record was making the fans unhappy so he was fired or forced to resign whichever. and there was talk in the media from famous alumni that notre dame needs to lower their entrance standards for their athletes so that they can recruit from a larger pool, so the team can win more. that is reality.

[Mighty Favog]

This kind of crap--and that's exactly what it is--has become accepted due to factors much wider than athletics. Various government policies actively encourage schools to compete for students, athletes or not, and for those students to switch from one school to another at will. Research is pretty consistent: student achievement declines as number of schools attended increases.

I can see the other side of the argument. College is pretty darn expensive, and a student must maximize the opportunity to earn scholarships. But again, that's a failure of long-term vision by policy-makers to do what is best for students and the public at large.

I can tell you one thing--they could never pay me enough to coach this kid. I don't care if she ends up better than Jordan Hasay, she wouldn't be worth the headaches.

[guru]

-this is NOT ridiculous!
-the FHSAAA should NOT step in and investigate!

TP, don't take this the wrong way (though I'm definitely taking a shot at your 'thinking'), but these kids should be able to transfer at will and compete for whichever school will admit them! The idea of punishing kids with "sitting out" needs to be outlawed! It's wrong and mean spirited and meant to punish kids for being able to exercise choice!

Except the constant changing of schools will almost certainly have a detrimental effect on a student-athlete's academics(which is everyone's main concern, right?),

wrong, when you turn on a college football or basketball game on tv just about every player is at the school because they are a good athlete, though some of the students may be outstanding in academics and a few may even have an academic scholarship they are playing for the school because of their athleticism.

example if a coach is asked how his recruiting is going and he answers well i have recruited lots of small, slow and uncoordinated guys and we will lose all of are games by 50 or more points, but these kids are really good in academics one wants to be a rocket scientist another wants to be a neurosurgeon etc, then unless he is joking he will be fired pretty quickly.

Except you're talking about college, and those are the exact scenarios high school governing bodies are trying to avoid.

Thank you for making my point for me.