Things are about to get very interesting in Indiana when it comes to high school sports.
The Indiana High School Athletic Association announced Monday that its executive committee has approved a basic framework that would drastically change how it deals with transfers between schools involving athletes.
If formerly approved by the IHSAA Board of Directors in May, the following provisions will be put into effect on June 1, 2025.
- First-time transfers from one IHSAA member school to another will maintain immediate and full eligibility if they transfer during the first six semesters (three years) of high school.
- Those transferring for a second time (or more), as well as transfers from a non-IHSAA member school to a member school, will be handled as they have in previous years – typically involving a certain amount of time being forced to sit out from all athletics competition.
- Students whose second transfer is a RETURN to their original IHSAA member school must sit out a full 365 days from the return before being eligible.
“The initial changes approved today by the Executive Committee are expected to further align with the State Legislature’s School Choice initiatives,” said IHSAA commissioner Paul Neidig in a press release. “We will discuss these changes and additional details with member school administrators attending the annual Area Principals Meetings around the state in April.”
In effect, this opens up full transfer opportunities without any repercussions to all student-athletes around the state for their initial transfer ONLY. As Neidig noted, the amended rules adopted by the IHSAA were, in effect, forced upon it based on the recent actions of state lawmakers.
As for how this affects prep athletics in northeast Indiana, particularly football and basketball, expect to see plenty of movement from one school to another once the new rules become active on June 1.
Because of district enrollment rules, some schools will benefit more from this new IHSAA rule than others. From my understanding, NACS and SACS have district requirements that the student must live in the district—no “open enrollment.” In other words, it’s a higher likelihood that here in Allen County, Carroll or Homestead will not benefit as much from the rule as other area schools, simply because the student’s family would have to move into those districts.
Let the recruiting begin! What a shame Indiana! Fund your public schools better. Stop sending public dollars to fund private schools. It’s not the same. Check your private schools and see what their special education percentages are, or their free and reduced percentages. Public dollars should go to public schools! Thank you for ruining public education!