If you have a student-athlete who is about to enter high school or is already in high school in Arizona, you know first-hand how hard they work to balance their athletic training and competition while keeping up with their academic responsibilities. And you've been a big part of their journey, whether it's getting them to their practices and games or helping them with homework and school projects. You want to see them succeed almost as much as they want themselves to do so, and you definitely don't want anything to happen that would threaten their eligibility to compete in high school athletics.
In Arizona, high school sports are governed by the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA), which has passed a comprehensive constitution and bylaws that cover all aspects of high school sports. Navigating this 150+-page document to determine which bylaws may apply to your student-athlete can be intimidating, but it's important that you have an understanding of some of the main bylaws that can affect your student's eligibility to compete in Arizona high school athletics.
The following is a summary of some of these main points. If you have questions or concerns about your student's existing or future eligibility to play high school sports in Arizona, contact student-athlete attorney Joseph D. Lento to discuss your situation and learn how he and the Lento Law Firm team can help. Joseph D. Lento has advised students all across the United States on discipline and eligibility issues, and can help you help your student-athlete stay eligible to play the sports that they love.
Age-Limit and Semester-Limit Restrictions and Waiver Requests
Students who become 19 years old before September 1 of any school year are not eligible to compete in high school sports during that school year. In other words, if a student entering 12th grade turns 19 on August 30, they will not be allowed to compete during 12th grade. If they turn 19 on September 2, they will be (assuming they are otherwise eligible).
The student's school (not the parent or the student) can request a waiver of this requirement by applying to the AIA Executive Board, which “at their discretion” may waive or modify the age rule for that student. The appeal should be in writing and should use the same form that is used for hardship appeals, even though age-related eligibility waiver determinations are not eligible for hardship requests.
Students enrolling in 9th grade have eight consecutive semesters of eligibility, which will carry most student-athletes through the end of their senior year. A student enrolled for fifteen school days in any given semester is considered to have “used” that entire semester for eligibility purposes, though the bylaws also note that if a student is not eligible during any semester, they do not get to extend their eligibility beyond the end of the original eighth semester. And a student who is absent from school without a “disabling illness” excuse for more than ten consecutive school days loses their eligibility for the remainder of the semester, or until they are back at school for the same number of school days that they missed.
Semester-limit eligibility exceptions may be granted for “hardship” cases. Hardship appeals are filed by the school (not by the student or the parents) with the AIA Executive Board. The AIA bylaws have a specific definition for “hardship,” and requests for hardship waivers should make sure they address each of the requirements. Basically, a “hardship” is something unforeseen and burdensome that happened to the student or the student's immediate family that they had no control over, which caused the student to be unable to meet the particular eligibility requirement.
Because hardship appeals are filed by the school and not the student or parents, it makes sense to provide the school administration with all of the information they need to support the hardship request and, where necessary, to be prepared to complete the AIA hardship request form. By taking on as much of the preparation work as the school will permit, your student-athlete stands a better chance of having the school agree to submit the waiver request. Student-athlete attorney Joseph D. Lento has years of experience working with school administrators on a wide range of student-related issues, and he and the Lento Law Firm team can help make sure that the hardship waiver request includes as much supporting evidence as possible.
Academic Eligibility Issues
Under AIA bylaws, student-athletes must be enrolled in at least five courses during each of their first six semesters of high school. For their seventh and eighth semesters, they must be enrolled in the minimum number of courses set by their local school district and must also regularly attend classes. In terms of passing grades and GPAs, students must meet their local school's minimum GPA level standards to be eligible to participate in extracurricular activities, including sports. Check your local school's handbook for the standards that apply in your student's district.
If a student-athlete fails to achieve either a passing grade in a course or falls below their school's minimum GPA requirement for extracurricular participation, they may be able to appeal to the school in order to keep or restore their eligibility for athletic competition. Schools may offer ways for students to make up work that resulted in a grade of “incomplete,” or to re-do portions of a class that the student has had problems with.
School Disciplinary Defense
All schools have codes of conduct or student manuals that describe in detail the potential consequences for different types of in-school misconduct. Student-athletes are bound by these codes just as all other students are. Most codes will describe various levels of consequences, ranging from verbal warnings to suspension or expulsion from school. Somewhere in between those extremes, there is usually a consequence that involves the student being suspended from extracurricular activities.
Most schools also describe the procedures that they will follow to investigate an allegation against a student and, if substantiated, to determine what the consequence will be. These procedures, while arguably necessary to help the school maintain discipline, are not always fairly or competently administered. Accusers and school staff members may hold grudges against particular students; busy administrators don't always have the time or resources to investigate allegations fully; and hearings may accept questionable evidence or disregard important facts.
If your student-athlete finds themselves in a disciplinary situation that could result in loss of athletic eligibility, contact Joseph D. Lento for help. Student-athlete attorney Lento has years of experience advising students all over the United States who have been accused of misconduct. He and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team understand how school disciplinary procedures work, and can advise you and your student about your rights and how you can best defend against the allegations. In some cases, Attorney-Advisor Lento can discuss your student's situation directly with school administrators, and can offer alternatives to loss of eligibility if the accusations have been substantiated.
Discipline Defense for Behavior During Games
Student-athletes who are ejected from a game are automatically ineligible for the next game. If it is their second ejection, they are ineligible for the next two games; and if it is their third ejection, they lose eligibility for the remainder of the season. In the usual case, these penalties cannot be appealed.
There is an exception, however. A school can appeal a student's ejection (on behalf of an ejected player) to the State Commissioner of Officials where the game the player was ejected from “has a bearing on participation in a state championship tournament.” Games that satisfy this requirement include the last regular-season game; a regional or sectional tournament game; and a state tournament game, in each case where the team appealing is the one that won the game. Appeals on the ejected student's behalf must be filed in writing online by the school within 24 hours of the game from which the student was ejected.
Joseph D. Lento can help in these kinds of situations. He and the Lento Law Firm Team have been advising students accused of various kinds of on- and off-field misconduct for years, and can help you take your student's case to the school and work with them to appeal the ejection in a timely manner. But it's important that you immediately contact him – remember, the appeal must be filed within 24 hours of the end of the game.
Transfer Issues Once Your Student is Enrolled
Arizona is unusual among most states in having an “open enrollment” policy for high school admissions. A student who lives in Arizona is generally free to enroll in any high school in the state, provided there is room for the student. High schools are required to admit students living within their designated school districts first, and then, if capacity permits, to enroll other students from outside the district who have applied.
As a result, a student-athlete's initial choice of high school is rarely questioned. It's when the student seeks to transfer to another high school that things get complicated.
Generally speaking, a transferring student-athlete who participated in a sport at their old school will be ineligible to compete in that sport at their new school until after half of the new school's games have been played. If the student transfers in the middle of a season, or transfers a second time, the student is ineligible for one year from the date the student begins at the new school.
There are exceptions to the transfer ineligibility rule. If the student transfers within a school district “under an approved compliance plan for racial balance,” the ineligibility period, if any, is left up to the school district to decide. If the student's school closes or withdraws from membership in the AIA, students can transfer at the beginning of the next semester and will be immediately eligible to compete at their new school. And if the student's school drops their sport, the student can transfer to another school within the same district or, if that school doesn't offer the sport, to the school closest to where the student's parents live.
Transfer eligibility decisions can be appealed on hardship grounds. If your student-athlete is considering transferring high schools in Arizona, you should contact an experienced student-athlete attorney for advice. Joseph D. Lento can help you gather the information the school needs to submit a hardship waiver request and can work with school officials to help prepare the request.
Watch Out for Ineligibility Due to “Prior Contact”
A transferring student may still be ineligible to compete if they have had certain types of “prior contact” with the new school or a coach at the new school. The circumstances of this prior contact include participating on any team “coached, directed, supervised, managed, coordinated, owned or operated” by coaches from the new school in the same sport as one the student is competing in, or by any administrators or parents associated with the new school.
The rule goes further. It applies if the transferring student attended any “open” athletic facilities at the new school, if a coach at the new school trained the student, or if the student attended a “camp, clinic, combine, showcase, or similar event” where a coach from the new school participated.
Eligibility determinations under the “prior contact” rule can also be appealed on hardship grounds.
Make Joseph D. Lento Part of Your Student-Athlete's Team
If your student-athlete is facing eligibility challenges in Arizona, contact Joseph D. Lento to learn how he and the Lento Law Firm team can help. Student-athlete attorney Joseph D. Lento has years of experience advising students in high schools and colleges all over the United States who have faced eligibility and disciplinary issues. He knows how schools and organizations such as the AIA operate, and he and his team will work as hard as your student does to keep your student eligible to compete. Call Joseph D. Lento today at 888.535.3686 or contact the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team online today. Your student deserves to have Joseph D. Lento on their team!
