Missouri is home to almost 600 high schools that are part of the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA), which governs high school sports and other competitions in the state. If your student-athlete is attending one of those high schools, you know first-hand how important it is to them to be able to compete in their chosen sport (or sports). They have worked hard to become a member of their school's team – not only getting themselves into top shape to compete but also developing the skills required for their particular sport. It's not easy, especially when at the same time, they must also keep up with their school work and, in many cases, participate in other school activities as well.
As their parent or guardian, you've helped them along the way. Getting them to their practices and competitions, making sure they have the athletic gear they need, and helping them with homework and test preparation – it really does take a team to help a student-athlete develop and succeed.
There is another way you can help your student-athlete, and that is to make sure you have a good understanding of the eligibility requirements for high school sports in Missouri. Your student has worked hard to get to where they are, and neither you nor your student-athlete want anything to happen that could jeopardize their eligibility. And while the MSHAA publishes a comprehensive handbook that includes its eligibility rules and disciplinary procedures, it also covers a lot of other things, and at 150+ pages, it can be difficult to wade through.
This post summarizes some of the more important eligibility guidelines covered by the MSHSAA as well as school policies that can affect your student-athlete. It will give you a good idea of what the rules are, but of course each case is different. If you have questions related to your student-athletes situation, contact Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team. They have years of experience helping high school student-athletes with disciplinary and eligibility issues, and can help you understand your student-athletes situation and decide what the best path forward is to keep them competing for as much of their high school career as possible.
Age-Limit and Semester-Limit Restrictions and Waivers
Student-athletes in Missouri are eligible to compete at the high school level until they turn 19, but if they turn 19 before July 1, they will not be eligible to compete during the next school year. So a student who will be a senior who turns 19 on June 30 won't be eligible to compete in sports their senior year, while a student who will be a senior who turns 19 on July 2 will be.
Student-athletes may participate in a maximum of four seasons during their high school careers for any given sport (with the exception of baseball and softball, which have two seasons per year). Those four seasons must take place during a period of eight consecutive semesters, beginning with the first semester of 9th grade. The semester-limit requirement is not suspended if, for example, a student withdraws from school for a semester; once the four-year “clock” begins running at the beginning of 9th grade, it doesn't stop.
Age-limit and semester-limit eligibility requirements are not generally waivable, but the MSHSAA Board of Directors has the power to “grant eligibility to a student in a case that is beyond the control” of the student or their parents or guardians where doing so “does not violate the intent of any standards of eligibility.” If you have a situation where your student-athlete may be prevented from competing because of either of these rules, but you believe there are circumstances that support an exception, contact Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team for help. They have experience representing students in a wide range of eligibility situations and can help you gather the information that will support your request to the MSHSAA Board of Directors as well as present that request to the Board.
Academic Eligibility Issues
Student-athletes must be enrolled in a certain number of courses per semester in order to be eligible to compete in athletics in Missouri. The number depends on the type of school year the school uses, but generally speaking, the student must be enrolled in and pass 80% of the maximum number of allowable classes during a particular defined grading period (such as a semester). This can range from four to eight classes depending on the type of schedule that the school uses. There are also enrollment options available for “non-traditional” enrollment scenarios that will allow student-athletes to continue to compete. Up to one full credit of summer school may be applied to a student-athletes eligibility requirements – but only to meet the requirements for the fall semester, not to recover from a failure to meet them for the spring semester.
Student-athletes who were not eligible to compete during one semester but satisfied eligibility requirements during that semester will become eligible to compete after the fifth day of the next semester. There is an exception to this: where a sport has a competition before the beginning of the fall semester, and the student is otherwise eligible to compete that semester, the student may compete in that early contest.
Student-athletes who do not meet academic eligibility requirements during a semester lose eligibility after the fifth day of the next semester. So a student who fails to meet academic eligibility requirements during the fall semester can still participate in competitions that take place during the school break and through the fifth day of the spring semester.
If a student-athlete earns an “incomplete” in a class and as a result, does not meet the academic eligibility requirements for a semester, they may not regain eligibility by making up the missing work later, except in cases where the student's illness was the reason for them missing the work.
Eligibility determinations may be appealed to the MSHSAA Executive Director; the Executive Director's determination may be appealed to the MSHSAA Appeals Committee; and decisions of the Appeals Committee may be appealed to the MSHSAA Board of Directors. As with age- and semester-limit situations, the Board of Directors does have the authority to grant eligibility requests in cases where the reason for the student-athletes ineligibility is beyond the control of the student or their parents or guardians.
Student-athlete attorney Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help you navigate the sometimes-confusing academic eligibility requirements, and will work with you in cases where an appeal of an eligibility determination may be warranted. He and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team have experience with these kinds of situations, and they will use that experience to help your student-athlete keep or recover as much eligibility as possible.
School Disciplinary Defense
Students spend many more hours each week as in-school students than they do as on-the-field student-athletes. As a result, they are more likely to run into disciplinary issues during the school day than they are while practicing or competing. But because schools have broad power when it comes to disciplining students, this can have a serious effect on a student-athletes eligibility.
All high schools have some form of a code of conduct for students, whether it uses that name or is part of the student handbook or some other document. These typically set forth expected behavior for students, investigation and disciplinary procedures for when misconduct is alleged, and potential consequences when there is a finding that misconduct has occurred.
The problem is that most school administrators are busy with a multitude of other tasks and aren't highly trained in how to investigate serious misconduct allegations or in the fairest way to resolve them. As a result, many students are unfairly punished. Where a student-athlete is concerned, a punishment that involves a suspension of extracurricular activities means they will be suspended from competing in their chosen sport.
If your student-athlete is facing an in-school disciplinary procedure that could result in a loss of eligibility to compete, contact student-athlete attorney Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team for help. They understand this process, having helped high school students all over the country with similar disciplinary investigations and hearings. They can work with you and your student to gather the information needed to mount an effective defense and can also discuss the situation with school officials in an effort to resolve it. Where necessary, if there is a formal hearing or a conference with school officials, they can act as your student-athletes representative to make sure their rights are protected.
Discipline Defense for In-Game Behavior
Student-athletes who are ejected from competitions in Missouri for unsportsmanlike behavior are ineligible to compete for the rest of that competition as well as through the next-scheduled competition. If the student-athlete is ejected during the last game of the season, the penalty carries over to the next one. Where there are “extenuating circumstances,” the school has the power to impose a more severe penalty.
An appeal of an ejection for unsportsmanlike conduct must happen almost instantly – in particular, “at the site of the contest.” Grounds for this on-site appeal are limited to a misapplication of the sport's rules, and no appeal will be granted where the ejection is the result of the official's judgment call. Once a coach initiates a protest of an official's call, the coach has “approximately ten minutes” to find the applicable rule that will substantiate the protest.
School Transfer Issues
School transfers are highly regulated in Missouri, at least when it comes to student-athlete eligibility. Student-athletes who transfer schools are automatically deemed to be ineligible to compete at their new school for 365 days unless they meet one of ten exceptions.
The most common exception is the situation where a student-athletes family moves from one school district to another. If the family moves during the school year, the student-athlete can transfer schools during the year simultaneous with the move, or can choose to remain at their original school through the end of the school year and then transfer to the new school at the beginning of the next school year with no loss of eligibility. If the family is moving, but their new home isn't ready when the school year starts, the student-athlete can transfer to the new school and will be eligible to compete “as of the date the actual move takes place.”
There are other transfer situations that can result in a student-athlete retaining eligibility after a transfer to a new school: moving from a boarding school to a non-boarding school is one; transferring from a school that is not a member of the MSHSAA is another; and transfers resulting from a student moving from one divorced parent's home to the other parent's home is a third.
Student-athletes may also transfer and receive a limited waiver that would allow them to participate in sports at their new school immediately. However, the waiver would not allow them to participate at the varsity level in sports where they participated at that level at their old school until 365 days after their transfer. It would allow them to participate in other sports at the varsity level at the new school.
Finally, hardship transfers may be approved by the MSHSAA Board of Directors when there is evidence that it was necessary for the student-athlete to transfer “because of unforeseen, unavoidable, or unusual circumstances.”
Because the transfer rules in Missouri are so complicated, if your student-athlete is considering moving to a new high school, or your family is considering moving to a new home, contact Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team for help in understanding the possible effect this could have on your student-athletes eligibility. They can help you determine what the consequences might be and whether your student-athlete may be eligible for a full or partial waiver. They can also help you prepare waiver requests and present them to your student's school and the MSHSAA.
Joseph D. Lento Can Help Keep Your Student-Athlete Competing
High school can be one of the most rewarding times for any student-athlete. That's why losing even a semester of eligibility can be devastating for a student, particularly where that semester corresponds with their sport season. Student-athlete attorney Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team have been helping keep student-athletes eligible to compete at high schools all over the country. They understand how the eligibility and school discipline rules and procedures work and will advise, help, and represent you and your student-athlete when their eligibility is at stake.
If your student-athlete is facing eligibility challenges of any kind, contact Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense team today at 888.535.3686 or through their online contact form. They are there to listen and help.
