Coaches are asking WV lawmakers to reconsider the controversial transfer rule for high school sports

Coaches and athletic directors are calling on lawmakers to rein in West Virginia’s controversial transfer rule for high school sports.

A 2023 West Virginia Law allows student-athletes to change schools once during their high school career without having to change residence. You are eligible to play immediately.

The change has been linked one-sided football results and athlete injuries. Athletic directors fear this will impact community fundraising for programs.

“Many of our concerns are not quantifiable. We cannot quantify how this is destroying the community aspect of our programs,” David Viands, president of the West Virginia Athletic Directors Association, told lawmakers Tuesday at the state Capitol.

“They are displacing students who have lived in this community for a long time,” he continued. “We need to assess the long-term impact of this rule and look for solutions.

In the 2024 school year, 433 athletes transferred to high schools during the fall sports season – a tripling of the number of transfers compared to the years before the up-to-date rule took effect.

“We see a lot of mid-season transfers. In Jefferson County we had four midseason transfers this season alone… right before basketball,” Viands said. “We get the transfers shortly before the start of the season.”

Viands said it also favors children who are financially able to transition; Students or parents often have to provide transportation. The up-to-date carryover rule was largely used by the state’s more urban areas such as Charleston, Morgantown and parts of the Eastern Panhandle.

“It actually creates a mismatch in the schools because when you lose a lot of seniors and juniors, now you’re playing a lot of sophomores and freshmen,” he said.

Despite Gov. Jim Justice And some Republican lawmakers House members said the rule needed to be revised rejected last year to include a bill establishing the carryover rule.

“We are seeing exactly what we expected when this happens. I strongly recommend that we look at this this session,” Del said. Wayne Clark, R-Jefferson.

Del. Jimmy Willis, R-Brooke, questioned why lawmakers should interfere with students’ ability to choose where they play when working toward a college athletic scholarship.

“Why should we tell them not to go there?” he asked.

Viands found that only a compact percentage (less than 2%) of high school athletes receive athletic scholarships to attend college.

Jamie Tallman, Grant County athletic director, hoped lawmakers would reconsider last year’s failed bill. The measure House Bill 5011would have allowed incoming freshmen and sophomores to transfer and given up one year of eligibility, but closed the portal for high school students.

“We can live with that,” Tallman told lawmakers.

Viands said the state needs to leisurely the high number of junior and senior students transferring schools to play sports.

“We are moving toward a little more restrictions and guardrails on transfer for athletics,” he said.

The legislative session begins on February 12th.