If your student-athlete participates in high school sports in Oregon, chances are they attend one of the almost 300 schools that make up the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA). The OSAA governs high school sports and other activities in Oregon, and its comprehensive handbook lists all of the rules and regulations that apply to schools, coaches, officials, students, and even spectators involved in organized sports and other activities.
But wading through over 100 pages of information can be a real challenge, especially if your goal is to help your student-athlete stay eligible to compete in the sport or sports that they love. That's why student-athlete attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento has put together this guide to those particular parts of the OSAA handbook that are most likely to affect student-athlete eligibility.
You've been there for your student-athlete for years, helping them with their homework, test prep, and school projects, making sure they get to practices and games, cheering them on from the stands, and paying for the sporting gear and clothing they need. But you can do more by learning what some of the major issues are that could result in their losing eligibility and by helping to make sure they stay eligible.
As you probably know, high school passes by in the blink of an eye, and you want your student-athlete to be able to take advantage of every minute of it. Losing eligibility for even part of a sports season can be tremendously upsetting for a student-athlete who is making an effort to do something more, going beyond their studies and putting in hours and hours of work and sweat, and building friendships with teammates that will last a lifetime. You can be your student-athlete's first line of defense against ineligibility, but you have a backup: Student-athlete attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento. He and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team have helped high school athletes all over the country protect their eligibility, and they can help you and your student-athlete too.
Age-Limit and Semester-Limit Restrictions and Waiver Requests
Students who otherwise meet the OSAA's eligibility requirements may continue to compete in high school until they turn 19. If they turn 19 before August 15 of any year, then they are no longer eligible to compete in high school sports. If they turn 19 on or after August 15, they remain eligible through the entire upcoming school year.
Limited appeals of the age-limit restriction are available to students who have a learning disability and an Individualized Education Plan in place, provided the student's entry to high school was delayed at least in part because of their learning disability. These appeals are made to the OSAA Executive Director and can be appealed to the OSAA Executive Board.
Once enrolled in 9th grade, students in Oregon have four consecutive years of athletic eligibility. Limited waivers of the four-year-limit restriction are available for a broader range of issues than the age-limit restriction. These hardship waivers can provide certain students with an additional year of eligibility. The hardship waiver can be based on a documented learning disability or, for students with or without a learning disability, on a situation that occurred that was beyond the control of the student or their family and that resulted in the student being unable to attend school for an extended period of time. The OSAA Executive Director is also the person who makes this decision, and that decision can also be appealed to the OSAA Executive Board.
If you believe that your student-athlete may be entitled to an age-limit or year-limit waiver, contact attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento for help. He and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help you prepare and submit waiver requests and, where necessary, appeal the decision of the Executive Director to the OSAA Executive Board. They have helped student-athletes all over the country who are facing problems because of similar restrictions, and they can help you and your student-athlete too.
Academic Eligibility Waiver Requests and Appeals
In Oregon, student-athletes need to be enrolled as full-time students in order to be eligible to compete in high school athletics. They must also be making “satisfactory progress” toward graduation. A student-athlete must pass between 3 and 5 classes each semester (depending on how many classes the school offers per grading period) for the student-athlete to be enrolled as a full-time student.
In addition, whether a student-athlete is making “satisfactory progress” depends on the number of credits they need in order to graduate and the pace at which the student-athlete is earning those credits. The OSAA has a matrix to help figure this out, but generally speaking, students must pass roughly one-quarter of the required total credits needed to graduate each year they are in school in order to be making “satisfactory progress.” The numbers vary somewhat depending on the number of credits the school requires for graduation, so this is something where you need to be very careful to make sure you know exactly what's required by your student-athlete's school.
In addition, the OSAA does not set passing grade requirements. It leaves those decisions up to individual schools, so here, too, it's important to understand what the standards are at your student's school for a passing grade.
Hardship waivers are available for situations, as above, where an unforeseeable and unavoidable event prevented the student from being able to attend school for an extended period of time. If you believe your student-athlete may be entitled to a hardship waiver, attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help you apply for and support your student-athlete's hardship waiver application and, where necessary, any appeal of the waiver request decision.
School Disciplinary Defense
Student-athletes spend a lot of time working out, attending practice, and competing for their teams. They spend even more time in the classroom, however, which means they're more likely to run into eligibility issues as a result of in-school discipline than because of their activity as athletes.
All schools now have comprehensive policies that cover student conduct as well as the procedures the school uses to evaluate alleged misconduct and the consequences students can suffer as a result. These, of course, are important and necessary when you have hundreds of students gathering together daily in classrooms, hallways, lunchrooms, and other parts of the school. The problem is that the policies aren't always fairly administered by busy administrators who may not have the training or the resources to investigate every misconduct claim.
As a result, school discipline can sometimes feel like it's being unfairly applied. This is when having the help of an experienced student-athlete attorney-advisor can make a huge difference in the outcome of a disciplinary situation. Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team have helped high school students all over the US in situations where they have been accused of behavior that could result in lost eligibility. They understand school disciplinary policies and the procedures that schools use to investigate and resolve claims of student misconduct.
The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team knows that schools have a wide range of options when it comes to the consequences the schools can impose on students, which range from verbal warnings to detention to in-school or out-of-school suspension to expulsion. And one of these options is an extracurricular activities suspension, where the student is allowed to remain in school but is suspended from participating in school clubs and organizations – including athletics.
If your student-athlete is facing a serious allegation of in-school misconduct, contact student-athlete attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team for help. They can make sure the misconduct claims are carefully and fully investigated; they can discuss the situation with the school administration to explore the allegations against your student and, where appropriate, discuss alternative types of consequences that don't involve loss of eligibility. And if a hearing takes place, they can help make sure the hearing is conducted in a way that respects your student's rights.
Discipline Defense for Behavior During Games
Student-athletes can also lose eligibility for things that happen during competition. Typically, this occurs when the student-athlete is ejected from the competition due to unsportsmanlike behavior. The OSAA rules relating to unsportsmanlike student-athlete conduct require ejected players to sit out at least the next competition. If it's the student-athlete's second ejection during the season, they must sit out the next two competitions, and if it's their third, they are ineligible for the remainder of the season.
If the student-athlete is ejected because they made “inappropriate physical contact” with an official, the penalty can be more severe, and the student-athlete will be required to appear before the OSAA Executive Committee before being reinstated. They don't specify what happens to a student-athlete after they are ejected from a competition (this is as opposed to fouling out of a basketball game, for example).
It's possible to appeal the suspension portion of an ejection to the OSAA Executive Director, but the appeal must be made within 48 hours of the ejection, and the commissioner of officials must agree to allow the appeal to be made. While not specified in the OSAA rules, typical reasons to appeal an ejection are that the official misidentified the offending player (often confirmed with video footage) or that the infraction that the player committed was not an “ejectable” infraction in that sport.
Student-athlete attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help with these kinds of in-game disciplinary situations, but you need to move quickly to get them on board as soon as possible after the ejection. They can help communicate with school officials, the commissioner of officials, and the OSAA Executive Director to prepare and file an effective appeal on behalf of your student-athlete.
Transfer Issues and Exceptions
The OSAA has a “fundamental rule” regarding student-athletes and where they are allowed to attend high school. That rule is that the student-athlete must attend high school in the “high school attendance boundary” of where the student-athlete and their family live. The fundamental rule has a number of exceptions, however. Among them are:
- Student-athletes entering ninth grade may do so at a high school outside of their usual high school attendance boundary and will be eligible to compete.
- Student-athletes whose parents are divorcing and have begun court proceedings may move to live with one of the parents and will be eligible at the high school located in the high school attendance boundaries of that parent's home.
- In certain situations, students who transfer in between school years may be eligible at the new high school at the beginning of the next school year.
There are other exceptions as well. If the situation isn't covered by a particular exception, student-athletes who transfer to a new high school risk being ineligible to participate in sports at the new high school for one full year. That said, student-athletes may generally remain eligible at a school where they have already enrolled even if their family moves out of the boundaries of their original high school.
Even in a situation where a student-athlete transfers and may otherwise be eligible to compete, if their move to the new school was motivated by “undue influence” from someone at the new school – essentially if the student-athlete was recruited – they will lose eligibility for a full year.
The problem with the OSAA transfer rules is that they can be difficult to apply because there are so many exceptions. In addition, hardship appeals from transfer ineligibility determinations are possible. What this means is that if your family is thinking of moving out of your current high school attendance area, or if your student-athlete is thinking about moving to another high school, you should contact student-athlete attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento for help in evaluating your plans to see what effect they may have on your student-athlete's eligibility. He and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team understand how the complicated OSAA transfer rules work and can work with you and your student-athlete to make sure that your plans don't interfere with your student-athlete's ability to compete in the sport that they love.
Joseph D. Lento Can Help Keep Your Student-Athlete Competing
Student-athlete attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team have years of experience advising student-athletes all over the US on a wide range of issues that relate to their eligibility to compete in high school sports. Whether your student-athlete is facing an academic eligibility challenge, one relating to in-school or on-field discipline, or problems because of a family move or school transfer, Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help you understand the situation and will protect your student-athlete's rights in the process.
These are not situations where waiting will help. Call Joseph D. Lento today at 888.535.3686 or set up a confidential consultation with the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team by clicking through the online contact form. They are there to listen and help.
