With some states’ football seasons in doubt, athletes are eyeing out-of-state transfers
She answered 25 questions but jokingly wished the news conference was over after hearing one of them.
“Man, did we just run out of time?” said Karissa Niehoff, executive director of the National Federation of State High School Associations.
Niehoff was fielding questions July 27 about the COVID-19 pandemic and how high school activities fit in with a return, or lack thereof, of sports across the nation. Her hesitation arose when she was asked about the prospect of some student-athletes transfering to avoid being locked out of playing this fall, and how that might affect their eligibility.
While some states are going ahead with high school sports this fall, others taking a delayed approach and still others have canceled their fall seasons altogether.
In turn, some high school athletes have given their home state athletic associations an ultimatum.
“There are families that are telling their schools and state associations (that) if there are no sports this fall, they’re moving. ‘We’re going to go over somewhere else. I can still commute to work, but I’m just moving,’” Niehoff said.
In Wichita, specifically at Wichita Northwest — considered a favorite for this year’s Class 5A state championship, offensive lineman Caleb Nott has joined the roster from Pine Creek High in Colorado. On Aug. 4, the Colorado state activities association voted to postpone the start of some of fall sports seasons. Football there won’t start until Feb. 22, for instance, and Nott is hoping to play in college. He’s a 6-foot-7, 315-pound tackle who has received attention from several Division I universities.
At Olathe North, a program that finished runner-up in Class 6A last year, Arland Bruce IV is one of the best offensive weapons in Kansas and has verbally pledged to Iowa. He has reportedly decided to move to Iowa for his senior season of high school. There are rumblings that Olathe Public Schools might cancel or postpone its fall seasons, and Iowa has only reduced its schedule by one game.
Bruce IV is a 5-10, 190-pound athlete who can play running back, quarterback and receiver.
Niehoff said transfers should not be made solely for athletic purposes but added that if such moves are made, “It’s a hard thing to fight.”
“That generally falls on the shoulders of the principals to say, ‘I support the transfer,’” she said. “’There was an issue here at the school. We couldn’t service the needs. I support the transfer to another school.’”
Last September, the Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) voted to increase the ineligibility period for transfers from 18 weeks to a full year. The inactive period would apply to student-athletes who transfer to another member school in Kansas and would take effect now, for the 2020-21 school year.
But it does not address out-of-state transfers coming to Kansas.
KSHSAA executive director Bill Faflick said he wants to see Kansas kids remain in Kansas and graduate from Kansas schools.
“It’s always a concern,” Faflick said. “I understand the value of that. As a parent, I might not make that same decision. ... Our programs exist to connect kids to school and to provide those opportunities to be successful now, to prepare them to be successful in life.”
Niehoff and Faflick made two other arguments against throwing open the doors to out-of-state transfers: health and participation implications.
Niehoff wants to see state associations stand firm in whatever transfer rules they currently have on the books, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The homeschool district is trying to keep people safe and trying to keep kids safe,” she said. “I think that (transferring) is a little bit short-sighted because that, to me, clearly indicates that parents are trying to put sport over their learning environment here.
“If where they’re coming from is not a safe area to go to school, who knows if they are asymptomatic and they’re bringing the environment of where they live to another district. We don’t know.”
Colorado had 53,901 total cases of COVID-19 as of Thursday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Kansas has about 18,000 fewer cases than both Colorado and Iowa. However, Sedgwick and Johnson counties — home to Wichita and Olathe, respectively — contain more than 35% of all cases in Kansas, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE).
Faflick said that when a student-athlete transfers into a new district, he or she could be taking away an opportunity from someone who has been in that district their whole life. Niehoff said that was a concern of hers, as well.
“Our rules exist to protect kids, not to punish kids, ever,” Faflick said. “But if my kid, little Jake Faflick, is going to be the starting quarterback at Wichita East and this is his senior year, and some kid from Colorado or Oklahoma comes in because his state can’t offer activities and now my kid just got demoted, that’s not fair to our kids.
“I understand that you have to earn it on the playing field. But that kid has earned that right to play through his commitment or her commitment over the past several years.”
On the other side of the coin, football is one of the only sports in the U.S. that does not offer a true club season. Student-athletes’ high school performances over four years dictate their college futures.
For athletes who specialize in football, it has been almost an entire year since their most recent competition. Missing a season because of COVID-19 could prove detrimental for their chances of playing in college, though Faflick said college opportunities will usually find anyone who has the talent.
Faflick noted that KSHSAA has seen its lowest numbers of hardship and special-transfer applications in recent years. Whether those numbers will stay low remains to be seen.
Niehoff said there are many peripheral dynamics to consider around every out-of-state transfer.
“All that being said, we know state associations’ decisions are often member-driven decisions, so member schools may in fact, through their boards of control and boards of directors, vote to approve some of those transferal changes,” she said. “I lock elbows with our state association offices, our brethren there.”