Texas is known for having some of the most active and passionate high school sports participants and fans in the country. If your student-athlete is or wants to be involved in high school sports in Texas, you know first-hand how challenging it can be. You've probably been helping your student-athlete for years, taking them to practices, games, tournaments, and coaching sessions, and helping them with their school assignments and projects. You and your student have invested a lot of time and effort into athletics, and you both want to make sure that nothing prevents your student-athlete from competing.
Unfortunately, along with the high level of competition in the Texas high school sports scene comes an intimidating number of rules and regulations designed to make sure student-athletes are getting an education along with their athletics, and to create a fair and level playing field for all. The Texas University Interscholastic League (UIL) is the body that governs athletics and other extracurricular activities in Texas, and its constitution and rules run for more than 200 single-spaced pages.
While the basics of student-athlete eligibility in Texas are fairly simple, figuring out what happens if your student needs to drop a class, or transfer schools, or is disciplined in school, or kicked out of a game is not so simple. In many cases, you'll find that an experienced student-athlete attorney can provide you with guidance and help to make sure your student remains eligible. Joseph D. Lento has that experience. He and the Lento Law Firm Team have helped students facing disciplinary and other eligibility issues all over the United States, and can help you navigate the rules and procedures in place in Texas. The following summary of some of the major eligibility issues for student-athletes will provide some guidance; if you have more questions, call Joseph D. Lento today.
Age-Limit and Semester-Limit Restrictions and Waiver Requests
Student-athletes in Texas are generally eligible to compete at the high school level provided they are under 19 years of age as of September 1 of the school year in which they are to compete. Waivers are available in certain situations where a disability delayed the student's education by at least one year, and waiver requests are filed with the local superintendent of schools. Where the superintendent fails to verify that the student-athlete is entitled to a waiver, the student can apply directly to the UIL Waiver Officer. Decisions of the Waiver Officer can be appealed to the UIL Waiver Review Board.
Student-athletes are limited to four consecutive calendar years of eligibility after they first begin ninth grade or, for students who begin high school in the tenth grade (skipping ninth grade), three consecutive calendar years of eligibility. Students who begin participating in high school athletics while in eighth grade are eligible to compete for four consecutive years, including their eighth-grade year, and so would not be eligible to compete during their senior year of high school. And if a student in seventh or eighth grade is held back one or two years “for athletic purposes,” they will lose their fourth year of high school eligibility if held back one year, and they will lose their third and fourth years of eligibility if they're held back two years.
Waivers of the four-year limitation may be available in certain circumstances; for example, where the student-athlete missed a season of competition because of “inadvertent circumstances other than an athletic injury.” Waiver requests are filed with the UIL Waiver Officer; if the waiver request is denied, the student can appeal to the UIL Waiver Review Board.
If your student-athlete is declared ineligible based on age or a determination that they were held back in seventh or eighth grade for athletic purposes, you need the help of an experienced student-athlete attorney to evaluate your situation and determine the extent to which a waiver request may be successful. If you have already requested a waiver and it's been denied, you may want to file an appeal to the Waiver Review Board. Student-athlete attorney Joseph D. Lento has the experience to help you understand the rules and apply them to your student's situation. And if it appears as though a waiver request or an appeal might succeed, Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team will evaluate your student's situation and will make sure your student's application or appeal is as strong as possible.
Academic Eligibility Waiver Requests and Appeals
The UIL applies different eligibility requirements for the first six weeks of a school year than it does for the remainder of the year, which makes it even more challenging to keep track of what standards apply to your student-athlete at any particular point in time.
During the first six weeks of any school year, 10th through 12th grade student-athletes are generally eligible to compete in athletics if they have earned at least five credits towards graduation during the prior school year and are on track to graduate. This means that incoming 10th graders must have earned at least five graduation credits; incoming 11th graders must have earned at least 10 graduation credits; and incoming 12th graders must have earned at least 15 graduation credits. 9th graders are eligible if they were promoted from 8th grade.
Things change at the six-week point in the school year. At the six-week point, all student-athlete grades are reviewed, and a student can lose eligibility if they have a grade average below 70 in any of their classes. If that is the case, the student may not compete for a “waiting period” of three weeks (15 school days) but may still practice with their team. The three-week waiting period does not begin until seven days after the student is notified that they are ineligible to compete, and during this seven-day period, they can continue to practice and compete in games and matches.
The student can regain their eligibility after the end of the three-week waiting period, but only if they have grades of 70 or above in all of their classes, and then only after waiting one additional week.
Student-athlete grades are next checked at the end of each grading period (which may vary depending on the school). If a student is earning below a 70 in any course, they will be ineligible to compete as described above.
During school breaks that are a week or longer, however, all students are eligible to practice and compete regardless of their grade status. If a student drops a class in which they have a below-70 average, it's treated as though the student failed the class for eligibility purposes, and a grade of “incomplete” is also treated as failing.
Grading is not always an exact science, and depending on the class and the materials being graded, it can sometimes seem arbitrary and unfair. In these kinds of circumstances, it may be possible to appeal your student-athlete's grades if they have resulted in one or more periods of ineligibility after the first six weeks of the school year. Student-athlete attorney Joseph D. Lento has experience helping parents and students who are the target of unfair behavior from teachers and school staff members. If you believe that your student-athlete is being treated unfairly and their eligibility is threatened as a result, contact Joseph D. Lento today to discuss your situation and learn how he and the Lento Law Firm Team may be able to help.
School Disciplinary Defense
A student-athlete who finds themselves accused of serious misbehavior during school hours or at school events may face consequences that can include being suspended or expelled from school. In addition, schools typically give themselves a considerable amount of leeway to discipline students, and prohibiting a student from participating in extracurricular activities such as athletics is a common punishment.
Your student's high school has a student handbook or code of conduct manual; all schools do. In many cases, there will be detailed explanations of the various ways in which the school will investigate claims of student misconduct, and what the potential responses will be depending on the offense.
These investigations and hearings are often deeply flawed and can result in unfair rulings and punishments. If your student-athlete has been accused of the kind of misconduct that could result in the school preventing them from participating in athletics, contact student-athlete attorney Joseph D. Lento to discuss your student's situation. Joseph D. Lento has advised students involved in school disciplinary proceedings all over the United States. He and the Lento Law Firm Team understand how these investigations and hearings work and can advise you and your student on the best way to make sure that their rights are protected.
In-Game Misconduct
In Texas, different sports have different rules governing in-game misconduct that the potential consequences. For example, if a player is ejected from a football game, they automatically miss the remainder of that game plus the first half of the next game; if ejected from a game or match in other team sports, they miss the rest of that game and all of the next one.
In-game misconduct can trigger consequences from both the UIL and the student-athlete's high school, as well as, in some extremely serious cases, local law enforcement. If your student has been ejected from a game or match in Texas and is facing serious repercussions such as loss of eligibility, suspension from school, or worse, contact Joseph D. Lento to discuss your student's situation. Student-athlete attorney Joseph D. Lento can help you and your student decide what the best defense is to the allegations made against them, and can help you negotiate and appeal, where possible, your situation with school and UIL authorities.
Making Sure Your Student Meets the Residential Eligibility Requirements
The UIL constitution has a number of provisions dealing with the student-athlete's residence and eligibility for athletics. A student is eligible to play interscholastic sports if they are a resident of the school district in which their high school is located, and a resident of the “attendance zone” in which the student's school is located. Students who have been attending a high school for at least a year may remain at that school even if their parents or guardians move away from the attendance zone or school district.
The UIC may question whether a student-athlete's family actually lives where they say they do. There are detailed criteria that the UIL uses to determine whether a student-athlete's place of residence is actually where the family says it is. Factors include documentation from the parents or guardians showing that they own or rent a home at the student's address; whether, if there was a previous address, any personal effects or furniture belonging to the family are still at the old residence; whether the family has submitted a change of address notice to the post office; whether members of the family who were registered to vote at the old address have changed their voting address to the new one; whether the new residence accommodates the entire family; whether the old residence has been sold or is on the market “at a reasonable market price;” and whether licensed drivers living at the old residence have changed their license addresses to the new one. In addition, if the parents or guardians of the student-athlete move from the new address before a year has passed, the student will immediately lose eligibility and will remain ineligible for one year.
It is possible to seek a waiver of the UIC's residency requirements, and if that waiver is denied, it can be appealed. Because you only get one shot at an appeal, you need to make sure it is as comprehensive as possible. Student-athlete attorney Joseph D. Lento has the experience and the knowledge to help you craft, submit, and argue your case before the UIL. He and the Lento Law Firm Team have been helping students for years with cases like yours.
Transfer Issues and the Athletically-Motivated Transfer Trap
As noted above, a student-athlete may remain at a school they have attended for at least one year even if their family moves outside of the school's attendance district. But sometimes that's not practicable, particularly when the family moves to the other side of a large city, or another city entirely.
Under normal circumstances, a student-athlete transferring under those circumstances will be eligible if they began attending the new school within the first six days of the school year; otherwise, they have to wait 15 calendar days before they are eligible to compete.
An important exception exists: if the UIC determines that the student's transfer was for “athletic purposes,” the student will be ineligible for “at least” a one-calendar-year period. What can make this determination frustrating for students who are legitimately transferring because of a family move or for academic reasons is the fact that their former coach can indicate to the UIC that the coach believes the student is transferring for athletic purposes. When that happens, the UIC will likely rule the student ineligible.
This can be appealed, and often is. The appeals process is an extensive one, and often requires a substantial amount of preparation and witness testimony before a UIC hearing panel. If you find yourself in this situation, you and your student-athlete need Joseph D. Lento on your team. Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team know how to collect the present the evidence you need to mount the strongest appeal possible.
Make Joseph D. Lento Part of Your Team
If your student-athlete has eligibility issues in Texas, Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team are there to help. With student-athlete attorney Joseph D. Lento's years of experience representing students all over the country, he is uniquely positioned to help you put together the best arguments in favor of your student and to help them maintain or regain their eligibility. Contact Joseph D. Lento today at 888.535.3686 or online to learn more about how he and the Lento Law Firm Team can help.
