In a world where people want to view everything as black and white, the truth of the matter is that most issues/topics have a lot of gray area.
And the proposed KHSAA transfer rule is no different.
Last week, the KHSAA board began discussing the possibility of instituting a one-time transfer rule, which would allow high school student-athletes to transfer schools and retain immediate athletic eligibility.
That isn’t the case now. The KHSAA examines whether the transfer was legitimate, for lack of a better term, to determine whether the student-athlete should be immediately eligible to play varsity sports at their new school.
There are a host of transfer reasons that qualify. A new job for a parent, a change in family status, etc. But there has been a significant increase in high school transfers over the last year.
KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett said typically, there are around 800 transfers around this time each academic year. In the 2021-2022 academic year? Tackett said it’s between 1,400 and 1,50o and it’s creating headaches for school principals and the KHSAA.
Obviously, such an issue doesn’t come without controversy, but folks need to take a step back on their stance on this issue and take everything into account.
On one side, people worry that this will open the door for high school free agency and a hard turn to the Wild West in high school athletics. There will be recruiting, they say, and it sets a bad example that if you don’t get playing time right away, just go somewhere else.
Those concerns are valid, but let’s be real. Transfers have been happening and let’s be honest, they’ve hit Russell County High School in a major way over the last year. That’s no secret. A lot of talented student-athletes have transferred to other schools for a number of reasons. Let’s not be naive… recruiting in the high school ranks happens and happens more often than what most of us realize.
On the other side, we have people who are 100 percent for opening this up. They say that we should allow kids to play wherever they want, and if they can find a better opportunity elsewhere, why should that opportunity be denied?
But issues exist there too. We also can’t be too naive to act as if some transfers will be totally motivated by parents and not by the kids. There are plenty of parents who think their child is the next Michael Jordan or Tom Brady, and it’s the coach’s fault the kid isn’t getting more playing time, but the kid is perfectly happy at the school where they are.
My point boils down to this: the transfer rule is quite complex and there are solid arguments on each side of it. I firmly supported the college transfer rule and my main point always was the fact that coaches (and let’s face it, adults in everyday life) are allowed to do it.
If a coach wants to leave a team that hasn’t won a region tournament in its entire existence for an offer to coach a school that can be a state title contender, there’s nothing stopping that coach or forcing them to not coach for a year at the new school.
In everyday life, people switch jobs all the time for better opportunities.
That principle exists here, but I think there are more issues at play here than at the college level.
Ultimately, the individual schools in the KHSAA would have to vote to change the current organization bylaw that requires transfers to sit out one year unless they meet those exceptions.
The board could take up the issue in May and at this point, there’s no clear indication which way a vote would go. Only time will tell, but in the meantime, I would challenge people to think about this issue.
I don’t think it’s as cut and dry as a lot of us want to make it out to be.
The opinions contained in this article are solely those of the author. The opinions contained herein do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, or positions of Lake Cumberland Broadcasters, LLC., its owners, or other employees.
