The Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association recently made a controversial change to the student athlete transfer rules which has drawn mixed reactions from school coaches and administrators.
The change allows athletes to make one transfer to another school during their high school career that would not require the student (or parents) to establish residency in the new district and the student would be immediately eligible to play at the new school, neither of which have not been the case up to now.
“I think it’s a reflection of the trend in society today that people think they should get what they want all the time which I think is wrong,” said Rougher football coach Travis Hill. “I see the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer athletically and it makes achieving parity in athletics more difficult. It just puts more stress on coaches, players, parents-everybody involved in these decisions. I think if you have good coaches, good parents, good kids and good leaders then I think it’s neat that they now have another option. But I know that often times we take what could be a positive and manipulate it into a negative and if that happens you could even see the death of some athletic programs like those in the inter-city that are already struggling against the more affluent suburban schools. And the kids have to understand that this is a one-time deal and if that transfer doesn’t work out like they had hoped, there’s no going back.”
Athletic director Dr. Jason Parker took a more pragmatic approach to the change.
“I think it’s something that’s been a long time coming given what we’re seeing happen on the relaxing of the rules on the college scene and the desire in our society to have more options in our everyday transactions whether it’s in a new car, a new phone, or now, a new school. We’re way past the days of kids having to be content to stay in the school system they grew up in so I’m happy the association has taken a more modernized stance. And I think it’s even positive for high school athletics that we get on board with this trend at a time when we’re seeing folks opt out of high school athletics for club sports or travel teams. In terms of opening things up to more recruiting, it’s still wrong to go out and solicit an athlete although there are already coaches on social media that are out there waving their flag and saying we’re taking all comers and here’s our contact information and I expect the OSSAA to keep an eye on that. But I see this as being more about marketing, which we’re subjected to every day in our lives. That’s how we got the jobs and spouses and friends we have now, and I don’t see anything wrong with putting your program out there in the best possible light and saying we’re a good organization whether it’s about athletics, facilities or academics to make it an alternative for those who may see you as a better situation than what they have now.”
