The rules changes involving the 200 Series on Student Eligibility in the CIF Southern Section Blue Book, which the CIF Southern Section Council approved at our meeting on Wednesday, April 25, were approved by the CIF State Federated Council at their meeting on Friday, May 4. Therefore, we must now prepare for the implementation of these new rules as we move forward. Here is some important information for you.
Implementation Date – The new rules will officially take effect on July 1, 2012 and will
be included in the 2012-2013 CIF Southern Section Blue Book, which will be available to our
member schools, and on our website, in August. Also, as the transition from the previous rules to the new rules takes place, please note the following…
- A. Any student who transfers to a new school AFTER the first day of that new school year in the Fall of 2012, may only apply for residential eligibility under the provisions of the new CIF 207 Transfer Rule, as approved by the CIF State Federated Council on May 4, 2012. (See CIF Bylaw 201.A.(3) for enrollment standards establishing a student as a transfer)
- Any student who transferred in the twelve (12) months PRIOR to the first day of the new school’s 2012-13 school year, has the option to apply for athletic eligibility under the provisions provided in the former CIF 207 Bylaws, or may apply under the provisions of the new CIF 207 Bylaws, whichever results in a more beneficial eligibility determination for that student.
In other words, if a student transferred during the 2011-12 school year and has been denied varsity eligibility under former CIF Bylaw 207, that student may re-apply for varsity eligibility under the SOP provision in the new CIF Bylaw 207, which grants
varsity eligibility to students on October 1 for Fall Sports, December 31 for Winter Sports and April 1 for Spring Sports.Finally, if a Freshman student transferred, during or after the 2011-12 school year under the 1st Time Freshman Transfer Rule, that student will have unlimited eligibility at their new school of attendance for the 2012-13 school year. This will be the last time that bylaw will be in effect. The 1st Time Freshman Transfer Rule will cease to exist with the beginning of the 2012-13 school year.
In my previous message called Rules, Rules, Rules, I provided a Synopsis of Major Changes to help you understand what was being proposed. Now that these new rules have been approved, I have revised that document and it is now titled Summary of Major Changes so you can see exactly what will be implemented starting July 1, 2012. I have included this revised document below for you to review.
Rule 206 – Valid Change of Residence
A student who moves with their entire family unit, under the guidelines of CIF Bylaw 206, will have unlimited eligibility at any school they choose to enroll in: public school, as long as the public school district approves of their enrollment, private school or charter school.
Rule 207 – Transfer Eligibility – Student Does Not Make a Valid Change of Residence
A student who does not make a Valid Change of Residence with their entire family unit, would not be eligible for varsity competition, in any sport the student participated in at their former school during the last 12 calendar months, until the following dates…
- Fall – Monday of NFHS Week 14: October 1, 2012
- Winter – Monday of NFHS Week 27: December 31, 2012
- Spring – Monday of NFHS Week 40: April 1, 2013
A student who transfers without a Valid Change of Residence can be eligible immediately for non-varsity competition, in the sports they participated in at their former school during the last 12 calendar months. If the student chooses immediate non-varsity eligibility, the student cannot play varsity at any time during that season, including playoffs.
A student cannot seek a Hardship Waiver to become immediately varsity eligible, unless the Hardship falls under the categories listed below under Rule 208 – Hardship Waiver. The student will not be eligible for varsity competition until the SOP has passed.
Foreign Students
Foreign student rules from the former Bylaw 209 have been incorporated into the new Bylaw 207. Here are the relevant rules for foreign students under the new Bylaw 207.
- Students in the United States under an approved foreign exchange program have unlimited eligibility at their high school of attendance.
- Students in the United States who are not in an approved foreign exchange program are the same as all other 207 Transfer Eligibility students.
- Unlimited Eligibility – If the student did not play any sports during the last 12 calendar months in their foreign country.
- SOP – If the student did play sports: high school, club, youth teams, community teams, national teams or competition for developmental schools or programs. They will have varsity eligibility after the SOP is over or non-varsity eligibility immediately.
Rule 208 – Hardship Waiver
Specific Hardship Waiver categories are limited to those listed below…
- Court Ordered Transfers – Court order or child protection order that moves a student from one location to another, necessitating a transfer of schools.
- Children of Divorced Parents – A student changes residence from one parent to the other and there is a court-ordered change of full physical custody from one parent to the other due to the HARDSHIP condition.
- Individual Student Safety Incidents – A student transfers schools because of a specific safety incident in which the student was involved. The incident(s) must be documented from the former school and/ or police records (if applicable).
- Discontinued Program – A school no longer offers a particular sport.
- Foster Children – A student under foster care changes residences due to court order, which necessitates a transfer of schools.
- Military Service
- Married Status
- Board of Education Ruling – A student changes schools due to a Board of Education mandate.
Rule 510b – Undue Influence
Athletic Motivation – It is now defined that if a student and/or parents/caregivers/guardians have had a verbal, written or physical altercation with the coach of the student’s former school, prior to transferring, that would be considered transferring in whole, or in part, for athletic reasons and could result in the loss of eligibility in that particular sport(s) at the new school.
There is no doubt that the transition from our former bylaws to our new bylaws will be a learning process for us all, but a task I know we can accomplish by staying in contact with each other. Our office staff and I stand ready to field your questions and we encourage you to contact us at any time so that we may help you in any way we can. In working together, I know we can continue to serve the student-athletes we are so fortunate to work with to the best of our ability. I thank you for your continued support in that effort.