Indiana is known for having some of the most competitive high school sports in the country. If your student-athlete is competing at the high school level in Indiana, or hopes to one day, you're well aware of how hard they have to work to develop the skills necessary to excel. Of course, they also need to pay close attention to their schoolwork, which means being a successful high school athlete is almost like holding down two jobs.
They couldn't succeed without help, of course, and as a parent or guardian of a student-athlete, you probably play a big role in making sure they get to their practices and games, as well as helping them with their homework, school projects, and test preparation.
One major area where you can take the lead is with respect to eligibility. The Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) governs high school sports in the state, and its by-laws describe in detail the various eligibility requirements that apply to schools, coaches, officials, and student-athletes. The IHSAA by-laws and articles of incorporation run for more than 140 pages, and can be difficult for anyone who doesn't work with them on a regular basis to follow. What follows is a summary of some of the important by-laws that can affect a student-athlete's eligibility in Indiana.
Age-Limit and Year-Limit Restrictions and Waiver Requests
Assuming they meet all other eligibility requirements, student-athletes in Indiana remain eligible to compete, provided they will not turn 20 before the scheduled dates of the state finals in their particular sport or sports. This means that a 19-year-old student-athlete who turns 20 during the school year may be eligible for some sports but not for others, depending on the scheduled dates of the state finals in the different sports.
Student-athletes are eligible for no more than eight consecutive semesters or four consecutive years of competition, beginning with the first semester of 9th grade.
There are exceptions available. If a student is injured or ill and must completely withdraw from school for a semester before 20% of the semester has passed, and receives no credit for the semester, then the semester will not count as one of the eight consecutive semesters of enrollment.
Students who have demonstrated provable learning disabilities may be able to secure a waiver of the eight-semester eligibility rule, but must request such a waiver from the IHSAA Commissioner in writing. Decisions of the Commissioner on waiver requests may be appealed to an IHSAA case review panel; the panel's decision may be submitted to a court if the student-athlete's parents disagree with it.
Joseph D. Lento can help with waiver requests for high school student-athletes in Indiana. He and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team have advised high school students all over the country who face eligibility issues, and he understands how the by-laws and procedures work.
Scholastic Eligibility Waiver Requests and Appeals
Student-athletes must pass and earn credit in at least 70% of the “maximum number of full credit subjects that a student can take” in order to be and remain eligible to compete. In addition to this, they must also have been enrolled in at least four full-credit courses during the previous and current grading periods. Grading periods occur more than once a semester.
If a student-athlete is ineligible scholastically at the end of any grading period or any semester, they are ineligible for the next grading period. That said, students may be allowed to make up deficiencies in night school or summer school classes, and if the deficiencies are made up before the next grading period begins, the student can regain eligibility for that next grading period.
A grade of “incomplete” is treated as though the student failed the course until it has been replaced with a passing grade. If the student does not remedy the incomplete by the next Eligibility Certification Date, the incomplete will remain in place for eligibility purposes, and the student will remain ineligible until the next grading period until they have met the 70%/4-course requirement. That said, if the incomplete is the result of “an extreme situation outside the control of the student and the student's parents,” the student-athlete's school may request a hardship waiver of this particular rule, though the student will still need to successfully complete the course before their eligibility is restored.
Student-athlete attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento's Student Defense Team can help you and your student-athlete if they encounter scholastic eligibility issues, especially if they fail to meet the standards of any grading period or semester. They can help you make sure that any night or summer classes are going to be accepted for the purposes of restoring your student-athlete's eligibility and can advise you if any waivers are possible.
School Disciplinary Defense
Your student-athlete's school can have a tremendous amount of say in whether they are eligible to play sports or not. School, after all, is where students spend the majority of their time and can be the place where they are most likely to be accused of misconduct. Each school has its own honor code in some form, and these rules and procedures typically give the school the latitude to impose a wide range of consequences as a result of student behavior.
While obviously one of the most serious consequences is an out-of-school suspension (students can't compete in sports if they're not in school), a lesser penalty can still keep them from competing. Many schools will allow students who are being disciplined to continue to attend school but will prohibit them from participating in extracurricular activities as a consequence of student misconduct. And sports, just as much as yearbook or drama, is an extracurricular activity.
The problem with many school disciplinary situations is that while the rules and procedures may be written down and may appear reasonable on paper, they are often administered by school personnel who are overworked and ill-trained for that kind of task. As a result, investigations may be lacking, and hearing and review procedures may be unfair.
Joseph D. Lento's Student Defense Team has advised high school students caught up in disciplinary proceedings in schools all over the United States. They understand how these procedures work and can help you make sure that your student-athlete's rights are respected by school personnel who otherwise might not give your student a fair shake.
Discipline Defense for Behavior During Games
Unlike many other state high school associations, the IHSAA does not permit students or schools to seek a waiver of or appeal a suspension that is the result of the student-athlete being ejected from a game for unsportsmanlike conduct. A first ejection during a sports season will result in a one-game suspension, and a second ejection during the same season will result in a two-game suspension.
Notably, however, the ISHAA has the power to assess other penalties against student-athletes depending on the situation. If your student-athlete finds themselves in a situation where they have been ejected from a game, and the IHSAA Commissioner has added penalties on top of the required one- or two-game suspension, these may be appealed by filing a Request to Review with the IHSAA Review Committee. Student-athlete attorney Joseph D. Lento can help you and your student-athlete evaluate the situation and, where appropriate, can help you or your student's school file the request.
Transfer Issues When You're Not Moving to a New Home
Student-athletes are generally eligible to compete at the high school where they first enrolled, even if their parents or guardians move to a new home that is outside of that school district. Similarly, if the family makes a “bona fide” move to a new home outside the original school district, the student-athlete is typically immediately eligible to compete at a different high school in that new district.
It is when student-athletes transfer schools for other reasons that eligibility can be a problem. For example, if a student transfers to a new school and the family doesn't move, the student may be ineligible to participate on varsity teams for up to a year (if they've participated on those varsity teams at their old school). Similarly, if the student transfers for “primarily athletic reasons,” they will be ineligible at the new school for a full calendar year.
Waivers may be available. Often there are legitimate reasons for transferring schools that have nothing to do with athletics; bullying, for example, or because their old school discontinued a significant academic program in which the student-athlete was enrolled. So-called “hardship” waivers may also be available. A hardship waiver may apply where there has been an “extremely negative non-athletic condition, peculiar to the student” that is caused by “unforeseen, unavoidable, and uncorrectable events” that were beyond the control of the student, their family, and the school, and which cause the student to be declared ineligible. Hardship waivers are difficult to secure, but not impossible; it depends on the circumstances.
Student-athlete attorney Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team can help you and your student evaluate the likelihood that a transfer may result in a long period of ineligibility and, where appropriate, he can help you seek a waiver of the transfer ineligibility period for hardship or other reasons.
Ineligibility Due to Administrative Errors
Sometimes, student-athletes are ruled ineligible by the school because someone at the school makes a mistake. The IHSAA by-laws specifically allow the school to seek a waiver of a mistaken ineligibility determination. The burden in these situations is on the school to show that the ineligibility was not the student's fault, that the incident or situation that resulted in the mistaken ruling was unintentional, that key facts weren't withheld from the school “until an advantageous time,” and that disqualifying the student will “result in an undue hardship.”
Student-athlete attorney Joseph D. Lento can help in situations where your student-athlete's school has improperly decided that your student should not be eligible to compete in high school sports. He will help you evaluate the school's decision and can assist in gathering information and arguments that could support a reversal of the school's decision and a request to the IHSAA Commissioner for approval of the school's request to change your student's eligibility status.
Joseph D. Lento Can Help Keep Your Student-Athlete Competing
If your student-athlete is facing a situation where their eligibility to compete in high school sports is threatened, or if they have already been declared ineligible by their school or the IHSAA, contact Joseph D. Lento's Student Defense Team for help. He and the Lento Law Firm team have years of experience helping student-athletes all over the United States with disciplinary and eligibility issues. He understands how these complicated by-laws and enforcement and appeal procedures work and can help you decide how best to respond to your student-athlete's particular situation.
Call Joseph D. Lento today at 888.535.3686 or reach out to the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team online. They are there to listen and help.
