LONE TREE — CHSAA addressed the hot-button issues of transfers and recruiting with three votes on Wednesday at the DCSD Legacy Campus.
An amendment to tighten the restricted varsity eligibility for transfers failed, while amendments on clarifying the definition of recruiting and contact with non-high school students both passed by significant margins.
, brought forth by Jeffco Public Schools, would have adjusted the 365-day ineligibility window for transfers who do not meet the definitions of hardship or bona fide move. It would have changed the start of the 365-day clock from the first date of non-participation to the date of the previous state championship game in that athlete’s sport(s).
This was aimed at closing a current loophole that some athletes are exploiting in order to be eligible for the state playoffs.
For example, an athlete with restricted eligibility (which is typically given for regular-season participation to seniors) can transfer and be eligible at his/her new school for the playoffs, if his/her previous school’s season ended at the conclusion of the regular season or early in the playoffs in the year prior.
ADM-3 failed by a vote of 50-22. Both Cherry Creek School District athletic director Larry Bull and Poudre School District athletic director Brandon Carlucci said that while they believe the premise of the amendment is correct, they would like to see it fine-tuned.
“The concept makes sense, because you don’t want a kid leaving junior year from a team that doesn’t make the playoffs, then he/she gets restricted varsity eligibility and can play in the playoffs (after the 365-day clock expires),” Bull said. “We want kids to play, but we want to keep it fair for the membership.”
Carlucci added he believes it’s important the 365-day clock start is addressed because there is a worry among athletic directors in the state that the rule as currently written has the potential to incentivize quitting.
“A question we posed in our outreach (meeting) was, ‘When should a student-athlete regain eligibility at a new school if they had participated and/or participated and quit at their former school?'” Carlucci said. “… In the case of a kid who’s a junior and thinks, ‘I know this team’s not going to make the playoffs, so if I quit now, I can transfer, sit out my 365 and be eligible for the second half of next year, and the playoffs.”
Carlucci pointed out an issue with the wording of ADM-3 is that the scheduling of state tournaments can sometimes shift. If the basketball title game is March 9 one year (as it was in ), but then March 15 the next (as it was in ), that gap would grant eligibility to play in the final games of the tournament under ADM-3.
That detail is one reason why the amendment failed, but Carlucci hopes to see a more refined proposal brought back to the floor of the next Legislative Council session in the winter.
“(Wednesday’s) proposal has sparked a larger conversation within the membership, drawing attention to the fact that there’s an issue with our bylaws and a potential loophole as it pertains to restricted eligibility,'” Carlucci said.
, brought forth by the CHSAA Board of Directors, more clearly defines recruiting and sets stricter parameters on what is considered acceptable contact. It adds a definition to the recruiting bylaw on a prospective student, which is a student who attends a high school’s feeder elementary or middle school or students who have pre-registered to attend that high school.
By the passage of ADM-4, recruiting is now defined as soliciting or encouraging a student other than a prospective student “to enroll in a school in order to secure that student’s participation in an interscholastic athletic program.” ADM-4 passed with a 46-26 vote.
, also brought forth by the Board of Directors, changed the title of 1900.5 from Eighth Grade Contact to Non-High School Student Contact. It rewrote Bylaw 1900.5 to allow informational nights/open house events showcasing athletic programs to all non-high school aged and high school aged students. It also stipulated coaches can have sport-specific informational meetings with prospective students.
Outside of those informational nights, “individuals representing the school — other than school administrators — are prohibited from meeting/communicating with non-prospective students/families about their school’s athletic programs.” The revised bylaw opens up the permissible contact from the school’s attendance area to the school’s entire district area.
Carlucci wants to see further dialogue on the entirety of Bylaw 1900, which outlines recruiting.
“I would still love to see stronger language around specific types of contact from coaches,” Carlucci said. “Can coaches make calls (to non-high school students)? Can coaches send emails? Can coaches meet with families? Can an out-of-area player attend a sport-specific meeting at a school?
“I think we can better define what coaches can and cannot do regarding recruitment and the promotion of their programs. Because right now some of the language is unclear, which makes it extremely hard to enforce.”
In addition to those amendments on transfer eligibility and recruiting on Wednesday, CHSAA commissioner Mike Krueger also addressed the issue of fan behavior at association games and events.
Krueger noted that he had “moments of frustration” when attending CHSAA’s winter sports championships and witnessing what he believes is unacceptable behavior by spectators.
“There are times when what we say and what we see do not align, and that is something we need to address,” Krueger said in the meeting’s opening statement. “The environment at our events should reflect the very values we are trying to instill in our participants… We need to expect more, model more and hold ourselves accountable to that standard. The truth is, we have more work to do.”
ADM-7, which added specific guidelines for dealing with unruly fans, passed via a 57-15 vote.
It added steps to Bylaw 2240, including the ability for school administration to give warnings to spectators, and also eject them. Individuals who have been ejected will be suspended from a minimum of the next game, and a school’s principal can extend that suspension up to an indefinite period of time. Any fan who is ejected from more than one game in a single school year will be barred from attending any high school events for the remainder of the school year.
