As the parent or guardian of a hard-working high school student-athlete in Wyoming, you know better than anybody how important high school sports are to your child. They devote what could otherwise be their free time to train, practice, and compete, and during their sports seasons, they have to juggle their academic obligations with their practice and competition schedule. That's why it's so important to help them stay eligible to compete in the sport or sports that they love. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team is here to help when their eligibility is threatened or taken away. Contact us at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to learn how we can help.
High school sports in Wyoming are governed by the Wyoming High School Activities Association (WHSAA), which is also responsible for non-sport activities. For sports and other activities, the WHSAA publishes a handbook that includes the WHSAA Constitution, general rules and regulations that apply to all activities, and specific rules and regulations that apply to sports and non-sport activities. It's a comprehensive handbook, but at more than 175 pages, it can sometimes be difficult to find the information you need.
That's why the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team has compiled this summary of some of the main eligibility requirements for high school student-athletes in Wyoming. If, after reviewing this, you have questions about your own student-athletes situation, contact the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team to find out how we can help.
Age-Limit and Semester-Limit Restrictions and Waiver Requests
In Wyoming, unlike in many other states, there are three separate times during the school year when a student-athlete can “age out” and become ineligible to compete due to their age. Students who turn 20 on or before August 1 are ineligible for fall, winter, and spring sports of that coming year. Students who turn 20 after August 1 and through November 1 are ineligible for winter and spring sports. Students who turn 20 after November 1 and through March 1 are ineligible for spring sports.
There is no specific provision in the WHSAA Handbook for exceptions to the Age-Limit rule.
There are also separate semester-limit restrictions that apply to high school student-athletes. Students are eligible to compete in sports for no more than “four fall and four spring semesters,” which are “counted consecutively” from the beginning of 9th grade forward. The semesters are counted based on the student's enrollment – whether or not the student actually competes in high school sports during any one of them.
Unlike the age-limit rule, the semester-limit rule can be waived in “hardship” situations. The typical hardship situation is one where the student-athlete was unable to attend school because of an “illness or other justifiable emergencies.” The WHSAA states that student-athletes in these situations may petition the Commissioner of the WHSAA for review and a ruling; however, the petition must come from the school, not from the student.
The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help gather and prepare the information needed to support a semester-limit waiver petition. This will relieve busy school administrators of much of the burden of preparing the petition and will help ensure that complete information supporting the request is presented to the WHSAA Commissioner.
Academic Eligibility Waiver Requests and Appeals
The WHSAA considers a student-athletes academic eligibility at the end of each school semester and then again at the time of each competition during the semester.
First, the student-athlete must be eligible based on their previous semester's grades (except for first-semester 9th graders). The student-athlete must have passed subjects earning “a minimum of 5.0 credits or the equivalent, per year toward graduation.”
Student-athletes are allowed to make up work if they fail to meet the semester passing grade requirement. This can happen in a number of ways, including work completed “during a subsequent semester” or through summer school, night school, correspondence or online courses, or even tutoring. That said, the student-athlete will remain ineligible “until all deficiencies from the previous semester have been made up.”
A student who is ineligible because they failed to meet the semester passing grade requirement will stay ineligible “until all grades have been verified by a school official on or after the last day of the current semester.” In other words, unless a student makes up the failed work from the prior semester, they will be ineligible for the entire next semester, no matter how well they're doing throughout that next semester.
In addition to measuring eligibility at the start of the semester, there is an ongoing eligibility requirement that applies during the semester. In particular, “at the time of the contest,” the student-athlete must be enrolled in at least “five solid subjects” and “must be passing” in each of them. (A “solid subject” is one that “meets five days a week or its equivalent for the entire semester and for which one-half Carnegie Units are granted.”)
This ongoing eligibility requirement means that it's critical for your student-athlete to stay on top of their schoolwork and to take steps to improve poor grades as soon as they begin to happen. This is where parents and guardians can be particularly helpful by keeping a close eye on the student-athlete's grades for signs of trouble. Where grades are slipping, and there's a danger that they'll fall into the failing zone, you need to work with your student and their teacher to figure out ways that their grades can be improved.
On top of all of this, each school is allowed to have more stringent academic eligibility requirements in place than the ones set by the WHSAA. It's important to review your student-athlete's school handbook or other school publications to see whether the school's academic eligibility standards are tougher than the WHSAA's.
Sometimes, on rare occasions, the problem is with the teacher and not the student. If you believe your student-athletes teacher is treating them unfairly, the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help you review the situation and decide what the best approach is to raise the issue with the school. Generally, speaking with the teacher first is the best way to start, but at some point, it may be necessary to get school administrators involved. Our experienced education law attorneys can help you evaluate your student-athletes situation and come up with an effective strategy that will protect your student while still respecting the fact that the school has standards that it needs to enforce.
School Disciplinary Defense
Student-athletes spend more time in class – a lot more – than they do at practice or in competition. As a result, they're much more likely to become ineligible as a result of in-school discipline than for anything that might occur outside of class. Schools have their own disciplinary regulations and procedures, usually reflected in a student handbook or code of conduct. In addition to the most serious forms of discipline (suspension or expulsion), schools can restrict students from participating in extracurricular activities as a consequence of misconduct.
This means that a student-athlete who is found to have committed misconduct at school may face a lengthy period of ineligibility that only the school can bring to an end. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team is very familiar with these kinds of in-school misconduct situations. We regularly help students, including student-athletes, who have been accused of serious misconduct (including academic misconduct) protect their rights in school disciplinary investigations and hearings.
In many cases, school administrators are less than thorough about investigating misconduct claims. Digging deeper sometimes reveals the “rest of the story,” which can shine an entirely different light on the situation. In other cases, schools don't properly follow their own investigation and hearing requirements or violate the student's rights during the disciplinary process. Working with an experienced student defense attorney can make all the difference between your student having a stain on their record (and being unable to compete) and your student being exonerated. Our experienced student defense attorneys can conduct their own investigations of alleged student misconduct, discuss (and often negotiate) the matter with school officials, and represent your student in any disciplinary hearings.
Discipline Defense for Behavior During Games
Student-athletes who are ejected from competition due to unsportsmanlike conduct may not compete for the remainder of that competition and for one additional competition (for football, soccer, indoor track, track, cross country, tennis, golf, skiing, and swimming) or two additional competitions (for basketball, softball, volleyball, or wrestling). Ejected student-athletes must complete an online Sportsmanship course before they are allowed to compete again, even if the penalty period has ended.
Students who are ejected twice during a school year face double the suspension (whether it's a one-game sport or a two-game sport). A third ejection will result in a triple suspension. If a student-athlete “physically assaults a referee,” they are immediately ineligible for an indefinite period of time, “pending a ruling by the WHSAA Commissioner.” In those cases, the Commissioner may suspend the student-athlete from further competition for up to one calendar year from the week of the incident.
Schools – but not students – may appeal disqualifications to the WHSAA Commissioner. The most effective appeals, in the experience of the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team, are based on situations where there is video evidence to show that the student-athlete did not commit the infraction that the official believed they had committed. Our attorneys can help you put together information in cases like this to present to your student-athletes school so that school officials can easily submit an appeal on your student's behalf.
School Transfer Issues
Student-athletes who are eligible to enroll at a high school in Wyoming can compete at that school. If their family moves to another school district, they can transfer to that school and, in most cases, will be able to compete at that school without a waiting period.
Other situations can be more complicated. Students who change schools with no corresponding move by their family will have to wait one full year before they are eligible to compete at the varsity level in sports that they competed in at their previous school.
Student-athletes whose parents are separated or divorced have different options. They may be eligible to compete at the school located in “the district in which the home last occupied by both parents is located.” Or, they may be able to compete at the school where the student already has eligibility. Or, the student-athlete may compete at a school located where the parent with physical custody lives. Students whose parents live apart due to divorce or separation are “granted one move from parent to parent” and will be immediately eligible at the new school.
The key to a successful school transfer is planning. If your family is considering moving to a new home in a new school district, or your student-athlete is considering changing schools, contact the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team for help. Our experienced education law attorneys can review your plans with you and advise you as to the best way to make sure your student-athlete continues to be eligible to compete even after making the move.
The Lento Law Firm Can Help Keep Your Student-Athlete Competing
The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team has years of experience helping dedicated student-athletes stay eligible to compete in the sports that they love in high schools all over the country. Our dedicated attorneys understand how important it is to you and your student-athlete that they stay eligible, and we will work with you to learn about your student's situation and advise you as to what the best alternatives are to keep them playing.
In some cases, we may conduct our own investigations of misconduct claims. In other cases, we may contact school officials on your student-athletes behalf to discuss problem situations that need to be resolved before your student can return to practice or competition. If you're considering moving to a new home or school or both, we can review your situation and let you know any eligibility problems your student-athlete might face as a result.
We all know how quickly the four years of high school pass by. Let the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team help keep your Wyoming student eligible for as much of that time as possible. Call us today at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to set up a confidential consultation to learn more about how we can help!
