Washington high school football coaches anonymous poll: How should WIAA 'transfer' rule be handled?

This remains one of the hottest topics in high school athletics - with no consensus solution how to address it

Mick Hoffman is the executive director of the WIAA. / Photo courtesy of WIAA

Over the summer, SBLive reached out to high school football coaches in Washington state about their thoughts on a few current in-the-news topics.

Final one - amid today's "transfer portal" era at the college level, how should the WIAA legislate high-school students leaving one school and enrolling in another, and their immediate eligibility in varsity athletics?

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Generally, by WIAA rule, if a student does not change residency and transfers to another school during his or her high school career, he or she would be ruled ineligible from varsity-sports participation for a year.

There is one popular exemption to that rule - a "hardship" clause, which gives a student an avenue to appeal an ineligibility ruling based on a "unique circumstances concerning the student's physical or emotional status."

In 2020, the WIAA representative assembly passed three amendments that intended to make transfer rules "more equitable" for student-athletes.

Of course, those amendments were ratified before the transfer portal became a thing at the NCAA level (which is something WIAA executive director Mick Hoffman has stated he is opposed to at the high school level).

Will rapidly-developing current trends, or even state law, impact how the WIAA reviews its transfer rules in the future? That has yet to be determined.

So, SBLive WA asked coaches at all levels, from all corners of the state, what is the most effective solution to this topic.

Of the 65 coaches who offered a thoughtful response, 16 of them had a similar (and most accepted) solution: Give students a one-time "freebie" transfer.

Here is a mixture of coaches' responses:

IF YOU WERE MAKING RULES FOR DISTRICTS OR WIAA, WHAT WOULD BE THE BEST WAY TO MANAGE THE RAMPANT TRANSFER ISSUES IN WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL?

"You can only transfer (one) time, regardless of family unit moves, etc. This would make families cautious to openly switch schools in fear that if they had to move after they had already switched schools once, their child would become academically ineligible wherever they move to even though they ACTUALLY moved. That is the risk you take if you want to transfer. Example: 'Joey' is an out of district student at ABC High School as a freshman. That is considered his one transfer. If Joey transfers, whether it be a family unit move or not, Joey is athletically ineligible for one calendar year. 'Joey' starts at his home school XYZ High School. Transfers to ABC High School as a sophomore and is eligible right away. If Joey tried to transfer again, regardless of family unit move or not, he is athletically ineligible for one calendar year. I think this would keep families cautious to transfer right away, or they as making a full time commitment to where ever they are at. It creates more stability, in my opinion. Less worrying year to year if a kid may or may not leave. If they have already left once, they're stuck there for good. Or, simply stay at your home school." - Class 4A coach

"I believe in school choice for families and their students (Including athletes). Many states have moved away from trying to stop it and rather have simply come up with rules for when you do transfer For instance, in Arizona, if you transfer, you sit out four games (or something like that) and it doesn't matter why you transferred. ... The self-policing system of Washington state does not work as schools do not want to tell on each other for fear of reprisal later, and for the most part, it just goes unchecked. Trying to control too much is the issue, and it doesn't work. Make it simple - if, after entering high school when you have your original choice of schools and (then) you transfer to another school, you must sit out the first two regular-season games for which you are eligible, and you must also sit out the first postseason game for which you are eligible. ... " - Class 4A coach

"Do not allow it. There are rules in place for a reason, and teams should follow. (High school) athletics in WA is supposed to be an even playing ground. "The portal' and teams ignoring the rules for transfers is taking the purity of (high school) football away. We are PUBLIC schools, kids should play where they live and for their home community. What are we teaching kids if we just keep letting them bounce from place to place. There is something to be said from overcoming adversity. I agree with the 'hardship rule' and I think there are always special circumstance, but allowing kids to up and switch a school just is not conducive to (high school) athletics. The rule of one free transfer (after) your freshmen year is good, unless your family moves and then you can play right away. Furthermore, I absolutely agree with the rules that are in place right now. I do think some of the hardship rules should be reviewed. Everyone has hardships, and they need to be viewed differently." - Class 4A coach

"That is a great question. It seems like things are accelerating in this direction and we need some guardrails in place. I worry about some of the rumor of where things are going and do not want to see what is happening in college football leak into the high schools. It's clear that some schools are becoming magnets and I worry that private trainers are becoming too influential. Review boards and (athletic directors) need to have the power to review each situation and ensure that the current rules are being applied in every case. If changes are to be made, a comprehensive/transparent process must be put into place that includes the coaches' association. There also needs to be some awareness by the WIAA when a large number of impact players all of a sudden move to the same school(s)." - Class 4A coach

"Your 'school of choice' is declared on the first day of your sophomore year. Any transfer after that date results in a '45-school day' (period of) varsity ineligibility. Transfers would be eligible to practice and participate in sub-varsity contests, but not (have) varsity eligibility. Any subsequent transfers would result in '90-school day' ineligibility from varsity contests. This does not withhold their ability to participate in activities (they can play sub-varsity), just limits their immediate impact on varsity athletic contests." - Class 2A coach

"I do not think there is a good answer. There has to be some way to discover the true address of a kid, 'Where do you spend the night (four-plus) days a week?' If you are lying, then you lose eligibility. We had a kid transfer out. We went to bat for him saying that he should be eligible at his new school. His family was not willing to say they were strusggling. Ineligible. Had a kid straight up lie, eligible. The system is broken." - Class 3A coach

"I am coming from Arizona where there is a real 'transfer portal.' I don't see any issue with how Washington is doing things. It is very tame here in Washington. Just leave it alone. Arizona had a problem, but when they tried to 'fix it" they really opened up a huge problem that they (cannot) put back. A few kids moving around is not a big deal, and the rules are making it hard to make a change once in high school." - Class 4A coach

"Geesh, I don't have an answer. If (kids and families) move, they move. There's just too many guys using fake addresses and not getting these things verified by (athletic directors). That has to be a better deal. Also, coaches shouldn't be allowed to coach club teams during the offseason. This is where 'recruiting' is happening. If your friends convince you to move across town, that's a different story." - Class 1A coach

"At least it's not as bad as basketball, haha, With that said, there isn't a way to fix it unfortunately. People will find loopholes no matter what rules are in place. You could do the idea where everyone gets one freebie, but after that, you must sit out a season regardless of the reason. But that's just going to make it even worse." - Class 4A coach

"Certain districts have huge recruiting/transfer problems due to the close proximity of other districts. You either need to lock it down completely or open it up and police it. Private schools in public-school leagues is bad enough, but I've heard some pretty ugly stories about public-school recruiting in other districts." - Class 2A coach

"Allow 7s (7-on-7) be its own sport and not under the umbrella of football. That way, high school coaches could coach their own guys. With that, there would be less influence from outside sources about transferring to certain schools. I believe the offseason 7-on-7 world creates the most influence when it comes to transfers." - Class 4A coach

"I don't know, it can be hard to determine when families actually move. Homeless card seems to be exploited. Bullying (reason) as well. Be more thorough at the district level. Maybe have players miss half the season. Report coaches who actively recruit players to both athletic directors." - Class 1A coach

"Hold coaches accountable. The passive-aggressiveness of the self-reporting allows for 'Seattle Nice' culture to infiltrate our sport. Additionally, the new and former team coaches should have to sign off on any transfer, in addition to the previous school." - Class 4A coach

"Kids are going to find ways to transfer regardless of rules. Transfers have been happening for decades, but only to programs of winning pedigree and financial resources. By opening it to everyone, i think it actually evens (the) playing field." - Class 1A coach

"Out of our control. Best thing we can do is run good programs and give a lot of attention to our kids off the field, in the classroom and in their lives outside of football. I have found when you love your kids, they love you back." - Class 3A coach

"I think it will be difficult to monitor through WIAA. Districts need to be held accountable in actually making sure students are living in the appropriate area. Consistency across districts would be critical." - Class 4A coach

"As soon as a school has a certain number of transfers, they should be investigated. Set a number, maybe three? Once a school has three or more new players, they should be investigated." - Class 3A coach

"No transfer (allowed) within 25 miles of previous school. Also, private schools get reduced to a 25-mile radius." - Class 3A coach

"Athletes get one transfer to another school without questions being asked. Every transfer after that needs to be approved by all (athletic directors) of the league." - Class 3A coach

"Make (unlimited transferring) legal." - Class 4A coach

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