ISHAA Question

[dailyjoy]

Howdy folks,

I have a question some of you may be able to answer more clearly for me.

According to the IHSAA's athletic Eligibility guide limitations are placed on how many athletes from a high school are allowed to play on a travel/club team together. I know athletes are not allowed to participate in their sport during the corresponding high school season thus the black out issue, but I know of several teams which are basically "school" teams playing the travel circuit. I also have spoken to a couple teams, which are only 8th grade 14u, who plan on staying together all through high school even though all the girls are from the same school.

Recently I was discussing this topic with one of the mothers and she tried to explain. Her team is a 99 (14u) team and every girl on the team will play on the same high school team. All but two currently go to the same junior high. The team is a "closed" team and practices at the high school field. To use the school field they are not allowed to have girls on the team not within the school district. (Another high school passed a rule this year their fields could only be used for practice if 90% of the girls on the team attend their high school.)

I asked this mother what they planned to do next year and she said the rule only applies during certain months. It is just all so confusing because Riley High School was required to forfeit their first three games, two years ago, for playing too many girls from Riley on their little league world series team. Does the rule only apply to little league?

It doesn't seem to be limited to softball either. I have two friends with boys playing on travel basketball teams made up entirely with boys from their high school. They play during the spring and summer months when high school basketball is not in session. The mother of one of the players told me that the rules have changed, and now you are allowed to have teams made up of teammates as long as none of the coaches from high school are involved.

It just all so confusing to me and if anyone out there can explain in simple, understandable terms I would appreciate it. A few parents are considering starting a travel ball team, comprised of girls from our high school, as a feeder system for the school. The thought is, because for the most part the athletes going to our high school do not play travel, our teams are being left behind and are no longer competitive. Before considering joining the bandwagon, I want to have a better understanding when it comes to the IHSAA's Eligibility rules.

Thank you.

[slapperdad]

Specifically Softball there are three phases:
Out of school out of season, this is after school is out until week five of the IHSAA calendar, no rules, other than the moratorium week, week one of the IHSAA calendar.
In school out of season, begins week five of the IHSAA calendar, the limit of five per team is imposed at this point.
In school in season, begins the first day of practice, March 4th this year until the team is eliminated from post season play.

The rules now include "incoming" freshmen, so the summer between 8th and 9th grades.

[dailyjoy]

So a softball "school" team is allowed to play from June 9- Aug 4 with the week of July 1-7 being the exception?

Would basketball also have to wait until the last day of school? And end Aug 4th? To play in the fall the team would need to have less then 3 girls?

So basically the ISHAA guidelines only apply when the student is under their authority during the school academic calender?

Thank you Slapper.....

[clayface74]

There is a thread on this subject buried in the archives...I will search for it when I get some time. Slapperdad seems to have the nuts and bolts of it overed though...

Basketball is a little different, but I think the numbers are % wise much better for them in the off season...

[slapperdad]

Basketball is good when school's dismissed for the summer, until August 4, 2013 (keep in mind the date will change year to year). Softball either when school is dismissed for the summer or the team is eliminated from post season play, which ever is last.

The summer team technically can play moratorium week, but high school coaches are not allowed contact with them. I think the spirit of the rule is they don't want fall sports, and of course Basketball, having all out practice for two months leading into the fall season. This also gives families with high school athletes an opportunity to go on vacation if they would like. In my opinion, we yank these kids 15 different directions during the summer. Give them the week off. Is one week in July really going to make that big of a difference come May?

The limits on numbers are only from week five through the end of school. At that point, for athletic purposes we are considered "in school".

The calendar can be seen here: http://www.ihsaa.org/Resources/Calendar/tabid/87/Default.aspx

You can enter several variables to see what you would like to see. Since the IHSAA hasn't had their annual meeting yet, I don't think anything past August is posted.

Lastly if you have ANY questions, I would urge you to contact your AD for verification AND GET SOMETHING IN WRITING!

[DLauck]

Good insights Slapper.

I've dabbled with the thought of keeping some of our HS girls together to play during the summer travel season. However, I took a smart pill, and decided against it. Here is why:

1) With our HS numbers (we'll have between 45-48 try out this year), I would have to select 12 girls and leave some student-athletes off the summer travel team. This would be a dumb move on my part, and would for sure lead to more issues than I want to deal with.

2) After the summer travel season, where do these HS student-athletes play in the Fall and Winter? It's too late for most of them to join another travel team.

3) I've yet to take the time to understand all the different levels and associations of the travel softball world. I would surely screw something up and probably get us in trouble.

4) I'm not a real coach. I only coach HS ball and would be pitted against real coaches throughout the summer. Quite frankly, I don't think I could handle the pressure of a grueling summer travel season against real coaches.

[slapperdad]

Lauck, I've dabbled with it myself. My situation is a little different. I have a handful of kids who go play travel ball, fine by me. The real issue I have is I have 12-15 kids every year who would play if they had somewhere to play, without driving out of town to do so. They can't/won't spend the time/money to play. But if they had something local, where we could keep costs to a minimum, they would play. The other 8-10 kids aren't going to do anything in the off season anyway.

My issue at this point is time. I damn near took a 16U team for this summer. However, it's my last summer following my daughter, I wasn't willing to give that up. Next summer I'm pretty sure I'll do something. It's those tweener kids who I think could help us, that I'd like to see get some reps. Plus in a travel situation, I would have time to give them the attention they need in terms of their development.

[backstop13]

1) With our HS numbers (we'll have between 45-48 try out this year), I would have to select 12 girls and leave some student-athletes off the summer travel team. This would be a dumb move on my part, and would for sure lead to more issues than I want to deal with.

Your numbers might not be as bad as you think. Depending on how you structured it I guess. Slapper's set up would work for you as well. Would you require your girls to be on your team or would you allow the ones that are in travel to continue with their teams while you worked with the ones not on a travel team?

4) I'm not a real coach. I only coach HS ball and would be pitted against real coaches throughout the summer. Quite frankly, I don't think I could handle the pressure of a grueling summer travel season against real coaches.

I thought we were mending fences??

[insoftballnut]

ISHAA guidelines, are just that,guidelines; I have seen myself throughout the years that their were more then a few girls who actually chose not to play highschool ball and just play with their travel ball teams all year round.

Many reasons as to why. If the girl was that good, why give up a good thing, but most times many have chose the travel team in 10th grade on up.Most of these girls i am talking about played for very very good travel teams that focused on very big tournaments that played in many college exposure games.

Sure it's nice to be part of a highschool team, and better even when you can win a state title , but you won't get the right college exposure from highschool ball as you would from a excelent travelball team would, IT'S all about what your DD can do and wants to do and is able to do.

Don't forge that you can also play strait highschool ball and still attend college camps, don't let these camps make you think it's all about them making money either, they also keep a good eye on unknown or unseen talent, bottom line is, do whatever you think you have to do and be happy where your playing, give it your best,have fun off the field and a game face on the field.

Look at Phil from the series DUCK COMMANDER , he played football in tennessee , he was drafted to washington as a pro quarterback , roger staubuck was the seconed string quarterback , Phil chose to hunt duck because he was happy hunting and makes millions now making duck calls,,roger went on to win superbowls and had a superb career, So like Phill says..HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY, SO JUST BE HAPPY IN WHAT YOUR DOING

[slapperdad]

ISHAA guidelines, are just that,guidelines; I have seen myself throughout the years that their were more then a few girls who actually chose not to play highschool ball and just play with their travel ball teams all year round.

What guidelines are you talking about? I assume you're talking about IHSAA By-Laws, I assure you they're NOT guidelines, they're rules, complete with consequences and everything. Yes there are a few kids who opt out of high school ball, I can think of a couple right off the top of my head, Katie Clark (New Pal/Bluffton) and Danielle Miller (Triton Central/Stanford)

Many reasons as to why. If the girl was that good, why give up a good thing, but most times many have chose the travel team in 10th grade on up.Most of these girls i am talking about played for very very good travel teams that focused on very big tournaments that played in many college exposure games.

To say many girls forego high school ball is overstating it a bit. Seriously how many "very very good" travel teams are there in the state of Indiana. And yes I understand there are a few who go play with out of state teams. Also could you share with the group a list of all these exposure tournaments that are played from March through May during high school season....oh and during college season as well?

Sure it's nice to be part of a highschool team, and better even when you can win a state title , but you won't get the right college exposure from highschool ball as you would from a excelent travelball team would, IT'S all about what your DD can do and wants to do and is able to do.

I don't think anyone has tried to say that you will receive college exposure from high school ball, other than the local D3. That being said, during our experience, DD has had in attendance D1 Softball coaches at both high school Softball and Basketball games, so there are exceptions to every rule.

Don't forge that you can also play strait highschool ball and still attend college camps, don't let these camps make you think it's all about them making money either, they also keep a good eye on unknown or unseen talent, bottom line is, do whatever you think you have to do and be happy where your playing, give it your best,have fun off the field and a game face on the field.

Once again, no one has said you're going to go to college and get recruiting skipping travel ball. I'll disagree on the vast majority of the camps, bottom line, it's about them making money for their program. Yes it's where you can be seen, yes I've seen kids get recruited from the camps, yes it's a chance for them to work with your kid and build a relationship, but the bottom line, when there's 40-75 kids at the camp, they're making money.

Look at Phil from the series DUCK COMMANDER , he played football in tennessee , he was drafted to washington as a pro quarterback , roger staubuck was the seconed string quarterback , Phil chose to hunt duck because he was happy hunting and makes millions now making duck calls,,roger went on to win superbowls and had a superb career, So like Phill says..HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY, SO JUST BE HAPPY IN WHAT YOUR DOING

Not sure where to start with this. Phil attended Louisiana Tech, along with Terry Bradshaw where Robertson played and Bradshaw sat. Robertson was indeed drafted by the Redskins, but opted out of Football because it interfered with "duck season". Bradshaw did go on to win four Super Bowls with the Steelers. Staubach attended the Naval Academy, and upon graduation served out the remainder of his commitment prior to entering into the NFL.