If you are the parent or guardian of a high school student-athlete in Washington state or of a younger student who is looking forward to competing at the high school level someday, you understand how important it is that they remain eligible to compete while they're enrolled. They have worked very hard to learn the skills necessary for their chosen sport or sports, and to stay in top condition so that they can be competitive. And of course, that's not all they need to be thinking about – they are students too, and are in school to learn.
You've probably helped them in both their athletic and academic lives; driving them to practices and cheering them on at games or matches; helping with homework and quizzing them before tests. There is one other thing you can do to help, something that they are unlikely to have the time or patience to take on themselves: you can make sure they know what they need to do to remain eligible to compete.
In Washington, high school sports are governed by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA). The WIAA Handbook sets forth in detail the organization's constitution, which includes the rules that apply to players, coaches, officials, and schools involved in high school interscholastic competitions in Washington. The Handbook is very detailed and runs for more than 100 pages, including its 18 appendices. It's a complicated document that can be a bit intimidating to wade through if you're not familiar with it. What follows is a summary of some of the major rules that relate to student eligibility.
If you have questions about your student-athlete's situation, contact Joseph D. Lento for help. He and the Lento Law Firm Team have helped students like yours all over the country who have questions or issues relating to eligibility, and he can help you and your student-athlete too.
Age-Limit and Season Limitations and Waiver Requests
Student-athletes must be under the age of 20 “within the first two (2) weeks of each sport season.” In other words, student-athletes can be no older than 19 at the beginning of each sport season in which they want to compete. They must not turn 20 during the first two weeks of the season. So, for example, a student who is 19 at the beginning of football season in the fall and turns 20 one month after the season starts will be allowed to finish the football season, but won't be allowed to compete in baseball in the spring.
Students have four consecutive years of potential eligibility starting with the beginning of 9th grade.
Waivers of both of these standards are possible under certain circumstances. “Hardship” exceptions are the most common. These may be granted when there are “extenuating circumstances, beyond the student's” or parents' or guardian's control that “significantly influenced or contributed to the cause of the student's non-compliance” with the eligibility regulations.
For a hardship waiver request that asks for additional eligibility time, the student has to show that their normal progress towards graduation was “significantly interrupted as a result of a long-confining illness” or “an injury, or a family hardship.” They need to establish that the hardship prevented them from graduating in the usual four consecutive years.
Eligibility waiver requests are reviewed by the WIAA District Eligibility Committee, which has an established set of hearing procedures for considering eligibility waiver requests. Decisions of the Eligibility Committee may be appealed to the WIAA Executive Director, who will designate a Hearing Officer to review the appeal. The Hearing Officer will conduct a hearing on the appeal, and will issue a recommendation to the Executive Director. If the student wishes to appeal the Executive Director's decision, the next stage is through a court action filed with the Superior Court.
Hardship requests need to be thoroughly documented and supported. Student-athlete Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento has the experience and understanding of these kinds of requests to help you make sure your student's hardship appeal is the strongest it can be.
Academic Eligibility Waiver Requests and Appeals
Student-athletes are expected to be enrolled full-time and to earn passing grades or the minimum grades specified by the student's school district (where those are more restrictive). The number of classes a student must take depends on the number of potential class periods at their school. Generally speaking, a student must be taking at least one class less than the total number of class periods available at their school. For example, if the school operates on a 4 period class schedule, the student-athlete must be taking at least 3 classes. If the school operates on an 8 period class schedule, they must be taking at least 7 classes.
In addition to being enrolled in a minimum number of classes, student-athletes must have passed the courses they took during the previous semester in order to be eligible to compete at the beginning of the next semester. If a student receives an “incomplete” grade during the previous semester, they have five weeks during the next semester to make it up and are ineligible to compete during the next semester until the incomplete is replaced with a passing grade.
The WIAA also provides for academic probation and academic suspension periods for students who fail to pass any of their classes. The probation period is only available during the fall semester. It begins with the end of the last semester of the previous school year and continues through the fourth Saturday in September. Ifat the end of this probation period, the student-athlete passes all of their required classes, then they are removed from probation. Students on probation remain eligible to compete.
If, however, the student is not passing the minimum number of classes at the end of the probation period, then they are placed on academic suspension for three weeks and are ineligible during that period. If they have earned passing grades at the end of those three weeks, their eligibility is restored.
There is no probation option for the winter or spring semesters. A student-athlete who does not pass all of their required courses during the fall semester is suspended for at least the first five weeks of the next semester (including non-school weeks if the student is missing competition during that week).
Hardship waivers may be available for the WIAA's academic eligibility requirements, with the standards being the same as the ones described above. If your student is facing a loss of eligibility due to an unforeseen and unavoidable hardship situation, and you have questions about whether they may qualify for a waiver under the WIAA's hardship rules, contact student-athlete Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento for help. He has the experience and background to help you evaluate your student's situation and, where applicable, can work with you and your student to prepare the detailed information necessary to support a hardship waiver request.
School Disciplinary Defense
The WIAA makes it clear that a student-athlete who has been suspended from school is not eligible to compete. In addition, every school in Washington has its own code of conduct that typically provides for a range of consequences for student misconduct. One of these is the loss of extracurricular privileges.
While the procedures described in most high school handbooks for investigating student misconduct are necessary and have been generally written with the best intentions, in practice they can be difficult to apply properly. School administrators are busy people and may make mistakes that can have a serious impact on a student's life and school record.
If your student has been accused of misconduct in school that could result in a loss of eligibility, an entry in their permanent record, or suspension from school, you need to contact Joseph D. Lento for help. Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Team have helped high school students all over the country with school discipline hearings. He understands how these procedures work, and he will work with you and your student to fight for your student's right to a thorough investigation of the allegations and, where it applies, a fair hearing. He has also worked with many high school administrators in similar situations, and where misconduct allegations are substantiated, he can often suggest alternative consequences that will keep your student-athlete in the game.
Discipline Defense for Behavior During Games
High school student-athletes who are ejected from contests (games, matches, meets, etc.) in Washington will typically face some period of suspension. If it's the student-athlete's first ejection of the season, they will be suspended for the next contest. A second ejection in the same sport and season will result in suspension for the remainder of the season. If the student is ejected for making “aggressive physical contact” with an official, they will be suspended for one calendar year.
If the student is ejected for “violent conduct,” the suspension will be for 20% of the number of contests for that sport during the season. So for a sport that has up to 7 contests, the student will be suspended for 1 of them. If the sport has 20 contests, the student will be suspended for 4 of them. Unfinished suspensions will carry over to the next season.
Ejections and suspensions may be appealed. The WIAA has a separate appeal procedure for these types of appeals. In these cases, the school files the appeal and must provide the evidence and argument to support it.
Student-athlete Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento can help in these types of situations. Typically, the appeal needs to be filed quickly so that it can be heard and decided before the next game. School administrators are often pressed for time and may not have the bandwidth available to file an appeal on behalf of a student who is facing being suspended for one or more games. Joseph D. Lento has the experience and understanding of these situations to help gather the necessary evidence and prepare the documents that need to be completed and filed by the school to make the appeal happen, saving administrators a lot of time and effort.
Suspensions for Drug Use
The WIAA prohibits the use of both illegal controlled substances and so-called “legend” or prescription drugs, including steroids. Student-athletes who are found to have possessed, used, or sold either kind can be declared ineligible for the remainder of their season for a first offense. A second offense will result in a one-year suspension, and a third violation will result in the student being declared permanently ineligible to compete.
Student-athletes who have been accused of illegally using either controlled substances or prescription drugs need the help of an experienced student-athlete Attorney-Advisor. Joseph D. Lento has years of experience advising students and clients who have been accused of illegal drug possession, use, and sale. He can help you and your student make sure your student's rights are respected in any investigation, and can help you prepare and make your defense.
Transfer Issues
Students who transfer to a new school because their family made a “bona fide change of residence” to a new school district will be eligible to compete at the new school. Students whose parents or guardians are legally separated or divorced and live separately can transfer once between the two homes during high school without losing eligibility at the new school. Students who change their residence because of a death in the family are also immediately eligible to compete at the new school.
There are other situations where students may be eligible as soon as they transfer schools. Otherwise, a transfer student whose family has not moved can be required to wait one year before being able to compete at the new school.
In circumstances where a student-athlete is facing a one-year wait before they can play for their new high school, hardship waivers may be available. The standards used to determine whether the student should be granted a hardship waiver are the same as described above.
Student-athlete Attorney-Advisor Joseph D. Lento understands hardship waivers. He and the Lento Law Firm Team regularly help students facing ineligibility secure waivers where the facts support it.
Make Joseph D. Lento Part of Your Team
Joseph D. Lento understands how high school sports eligibility rules work. He also understands how important it is to you and your student-athlete to keep them competing during this critical time of their life when even a few months of ineligibility can feel like a lifetime. He has the experience and skills you need to help keep your student-athlete eligible to play the sports that they love. If your student has been ruled ineligible to compete and you believe there may be facts that will support an appeal or a waiver request, contact Joseph D. Lento today. He can be reached at 888.535.3686 or through the Lento Law Firm's online contact form.
