IHSAA One-Time Transfer Rule Bill To Be Filed At Indiana Legislative Session

[TigerFan20]

59 minutes ago, slicer28 said:

The 30 day provision is interesting. I wonder how that would be counted and when the clock would start?

I was thinking of 1st day official practice or 1st game/match for the clock to start. I’m out of the loop on this stuff, so I have no idea.

[Football Fanatic]

32 minutes ago, TigerFan20 said:

I was thinking of 1st day official practice or 1st game/match for the clock to start. I’m out of the loop on this stuff, so I have no idea.

Rumblings are that it would start from the first day of offical competition, meaning the week 1 game. So if it's a 30 day ban, that's almost half the season which seems fairly harsh for kids in their last season of high school ball.

[CoachMack219]

14 minutes ago, Football Fanatic said:

that's almost half the season which seems fairly harsh for kids in their last season of high school ball.

Careful, the loyalty police are lurkin'... lol

[Football Fanatic]

17 minutes ago, CoachMack219 said:

Careful, the loyalty police are lurkin'... lol

Oh I guarantee it. To that I say…

So I guess it’s more acceptable for a kid to jump ship early rather than staying and building somewhere? Why are we punishing a kid who has put the time in or taken his lumps every year at one place and just wants to have a more enjoyable/successful senior year?

If anything it should be the other way around. Definitely makes more sense if a sophomore/junior has to sit for 30 days or just play JV initially, and then still have another full year or two. I’m all for the new transfer rule, but I despise the part where seniors have to be punished in their last (and probably most memorable) season.

[Titan32]

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2025/02/15/what-new-ihsaa-transfers-rules-bylaw-changes-mean-for-indiana-students-statehouse-bill-one-time/78665785007/

[Football Guru 25]

On 2/14/2025 at 2:47 PM, Football Fanatic said:

Rumblings are that it would start from the first day of offical competition, meaning the week 1 game. So if it's a 30 day ban, that's almost half the season which seems fairly harsh for kids in their last season of high school ball.

Seems like this rule is punishing seniors... why would they have a different set of rules.   Whats fair for one should be fair for all.... less tracking by IHSAA and schools if its a strightline rule.

[PDB26]

I don't have any gripe with the free transfer rule, but the limited 30-day provision seems reasonable. I guess, if I had to amend the provision, I'd institute the 30-day period only in cases where the athlete hasn't actually changed addresses. It's probably a good thing for the IHSAA to consider the interests of all involved: parents, remaining or transferring students, and schools. 

On 2/14/2025 at 3:27 PM, Football Fanatic said:

Oh I guarantee it. To that I say…

So I guess it’s more acceptable for a kid to jump ship early rather than staying and building somewhere? Why are we punishing a kid who has put the time in or taken his lumps every year at one place and just wants to have a more enjoyable/successful senior year?

If anything it should be the other way around. Definitely makes more sense if a sophomore/junior has to sit for 30 days or just play JV initially, and then still have another full year or two. I’m all for the new transfer rule, but I despise the part where seniors have to be punished in their last (and probably most memorable) season.

I'm not sure I'm following the argument where "staying and building somewhere" is important but then there is a problem with a provision that would likely protect many student athletes who intend to stay with one program through their senior year. I'm about to straw-man your argument a bit, but I can't think of anything more memorable than being a mercenary athlete playing my senior year with a bunch of guys I've known for five minutes.

5 hours ago, Football Guru 25 said:

Seems like this rule is punishing seniors... why would they have a different set of rules.   Whats fair for one should be fair for all.... less tracking by IHSAA and schools if its a strightline rule.

Seems like a rule that will encourage athletes to transfer earlier––which is probably better for everyone. Programs have a huge interest in keeping as many 18 year olds as possible, and the athletes who remain in one program through their senior year deserve a little consideration, too.

 

[CoachMack219]

On 2/16/2025 at 7:33 AM, Football Guru 25 said:

Seems like this rule is punishing seniors... why would they have a different set of rules.   Whats fair for one should be fair for all.... less tracking by IHSAA and schools if its a strightline rule.

Totally agreed. 

[CoachMack219]

On 2/16/2025 at 1:51 PM, PDB26 said:

I don't have any gripe with the free transfer rule, but the limited 30-day provision seems reasonable. I guess, if I had to amend the provision, I'd institute the 30-day period only in cases where the athlete hasn't actually changed addresses. It's probably a good thing for the IHSAA to consider the interests of all involved: parents, remaining or transferring students, and schools. 

I could get down with your provision MUCH more than I can with the currently proposed limited 30-day provision on Seniors. 

[crimsonace1]

On 2/7/2025 at 2:54 PM, jets said:

I honestly don't understand why they (the Right) hate public schools so much - and that was actually the intention of my original post was for someone to explain to me the decades long attack on public schools....but all I got was smart-a@# responses like "it sucks" 

Well ok then...

As someone who grew up in the hard-core Religious Right subculture/church, there are a few reasons. 

1. Prior to the 1960s, many public schools were very openly and explicitly Protestant. Daily Bible readings, prayers, they basically openly embraced religious belief and practice as long as it was "nondenominational" (e.g., "Protestant"). I remember an older family member complaining about "God being taken out of schools" and saying "well, we had a Jewish person in my class and when it was her turn to read the Bible, she always read from the Old Testament." The Catholic/parochial school system developed as a means of educating Catholic students because the public schools were so openly Protestant. 

2. After court rulings banned prayers, Bible readings and open religious instruction in public schools, churches (especially conservative Baptist churches) began opening their own schools. The one my siblings went to opened in 1965. There was a Lutheran school system similar to the Catholic one (albeit on a much smaller scale), but it grew post-1965, too. Some were also created to avoid segregation, but moreso in the South than in Indiana (where, thanks to the Klan's control of the state in the 1920s, most small towns had few/no Black residents, and that's where many of the religious schools were). 

3. Parents began desiring their tax dollars that were supporting those "Godless" public schools be able to be used to send their kids to said conservative Baptist schools (or pay for homeschooling, which has also become a big deal in conservative/evangelical culture), and thus the voucher concept was born. Legislators, in trying to funnel money to their preferred private schools, began to villify public schools, and the distaste has grown since. 

In Indiana, every single bill post-2009 has been to try to weaken traditional public schools and funnel as many kids as possible to charter/private/parochial schools. And when not enough kids are doing what the legislature told them to do, they double down even more. 

[tango]

1 hour ago, crimsonace1 said:

 Indiana (where, thanks to the Klan's control of the state in the 1920s

If you're interested, I highly recommend "A Fever in the Heartland" by Timothy Egan. One of the better books I've read in recent years.

[WaffleWolf]

The portal has moved to High School.

[crimsonace1]

On 2/18/2025 at 3:12 PM, tango said:

If you're interested, I highly recommend "A Fever in the Heartland" by Timothy Egan. One of the better books I've read in recent years.

It's a great book about a very, very bad period in our state's history. 

[tango]

1 minute ago, crimsonace1 said:

It's a great book about a very, very bad period in our state's history. 

IMO, it's very instructive as to how we've ended up at the place we now find ourselves. 

[Muda69]

57 minutes ago, tango said:

IMO, it's very instructive as to how we've ended up at the place we now find ourselves. 

Please, elaborate.

 

[Titan32]

So…does the first 6 semesters count the summer after junior year?

[CoachMack219]

4 minutes ago, Titan32 said:

So…does the first 6 semesters count the summer after junior year?

My guess is that if you're an incoming Senior looking to transfer, if you do so BEFORE the end of your last day of school as a Junior, that would qualify, by this definition provided, as "DURING their first six semesters of high school." At least that's how I would argue it in a court of law for a client of mine, if I were an attorney. 

Also, and I know there aren't TOO many of these, what if a school is on Trimesters (like Merrillville)? Does first 6 semesters AUTOMATICALLY mean first 3 years of High School? Or do kids in trimester schools have to transfer by the end of their Sophomore year due to wording? I know I personally wouldn't assume ANYTHING when it comes to IHSAA bylaws/ rulings.  

[Coach Nowlin]

42 minutes ago, Titan32 said:

So…does the first 6 semesters count the summer after junior year?

Hey look at that, BY LAW done before State Legislature passes any BILL, (perhaps they still do, however, this is what was always going to happened ) 

 

[Titan32]

53 minutes ago, CoachMack219 said:

My guess is that if you're an incoming Senior looking to transfer, if you do so BEFORE the end of your last day of school as a Junior, that would qualify, by this definition provided, as "DURING their first six semesters of high school." At least that's how I would argue it in a court of law for a client of mine, if I were an attorney. 

Also, and I know there aren't TOO many of these, what if a school is on Trimesters (like Merrillville)? Does first 6 semesters AUTOMATICALLY mean first 3 years of High School? Or do kids in trimester schools have to transfer by the end of their Sophomore year due to wording? I know I personally wouldn't assume ANYTHING when it comes to IHSAA bylaws/ rulings.  

Someone is going to lawyer up and say....kids going to be Seniors this year, regardless if it is past the end of their "6th semester"....need to be able to make this move since they didn't have the option before like the classes after them are going to have.  This needs some sort of ramp.  And to your point ....issues with the language as it pertains to trimesters.  The language is too basic for what we will be dealing with.

[tango]

3 hours ago, Muda69 said:

Please, elaborate.

Have you read the book?  

[Whiting89]

So will this transfer rule basically help with contraction in urban areas as who would want to play for a losing program when they can choose their school?

 

[Muda69]

15 hours ago, tango said:

Have you read the book?  

Yes I have read it. Hence my query to you. 

I actually own a hardcover copy of the book.

Edited February 22, 2025 by Muda69

[WaffleWolf]

19 hours ago, CoachMack219 said:

My guess is that if you're an incoming Senior looking to transfer, if you do so BEFORE the end of your last day of school as a Junior, that would qualify, by this definition provided, as "DURING their first six semesters of high school." At least that's how I would argue it in a court of law for a client of mine, if I were an attorney. 

Also, and I know there aren't TOO many of these, what if a school is on Trimesters (like Merrillville)? Does first 6 semesters AUTOMATICALLY mean first 3 years of High School? Or do kids in trimester schools have to transfer by the end of their Sophomore year due to wording? I know I personally wouldn't assume ANYTHING when it comes to IHSAA bylaws/ rulings.  

Or the IHSAA calendar resets July 1st, so does your next year of high school start after that date?  In that case June 1st to July 1st is going to be WILD!!!

[PDB26]

19 hours ago, CoachMack219 said:

My guess is that if you're an incoming Senior looking to transfer, if you do so BEFORE the end of your last day of school as a Junior, that would qualify, by this definition provided, as "DURING their first six semesters of high school." At least that's how I would argue it in a court of law for a client of mine, if I were an attorney. 

Also, and I know there aren't TOO many of these, what if a school is on Trimesters (like Merrillville)? Does first 6 semesters AUTOMATICALLY mean first 3 years of High School? Or do kids in trimester schools have to transfer by the end of their Sophomore year due to wording? I know I personally wouldn't assume ANYTHING when it comes to IHSAA bylaws/ rulings.  

I imagine the language pertaining to semesters gets sorted out once they talk to more principals unless they’ve treated trimester schools as though they were two semester schools in the past when adjudicating issues. It possible they just collapse that third semester into the second of whatever year the student is in. Not sure why they’d do it that way, but IHSAA.

18 hours ago, Titan32 said:

Someone is going to lawyer up and say....kids going to be Seniors this year, regardless if it is past the end of their "6th semester"....need to be able to make this move since they didn't have the option before like the classes after them are going to have.  This needs some sort of ramp.  And to your point ....issues with the language as it pertains to trimesters.  The language is too basic for what we will be dealing with.

That’s an interesting thought about a lawsuit. Are rising seniors actually damaged by the new rule? So far as this release is concerned, it’s hard to say, but maybe they are.

53 minutes ago, WaffleWolf said:

Or the IHSAA calendar resets July 1st, so does your next year of high school start after that date?  In that case June 1st to July 1st is going to be WILD!!!

That’s a good point about the IHSAA calendar year. It seems like using the IHSAA calendar to qualify students would be the most equitable and in the best interest of most students. 

 

[WaffleWolf]

13 hours ago, PDB26 said:

 

That’s a good point about the IHSAA calendar year. It seems like using the IHSAA calendar to qualify students would be the most equitable and in the best interest of most students. 

 

Because Baseball and Softball tournaments go all the way into mid June you would almost have to.