Your High School Elgibility

Your school is one of over 720 public, parochial, private and charter high schools that have agreed to follow the rules and regulations they help enact through the Michigan High School Athletic Association.

Your high school years will provide some of the most memorable and enjoyable moments you will ever experience. The privilege of competing in interschool athletics is a once- in-a-lifetime experience which will influence you forever, but participation is dependent on your eligibility.

The essential eligibility requirements in this brochure are only a summary of some of the regulations affecting student eligibility. Most requirements are found in the MHSAA HANDBOOK, which can be located in the school administrative offices. In addition, your school district has the authority to establish more stringent standards and to enact codes of athletic conduct that are in the best interests of individual students, the team and community.

Review the rules with your parents/guardians and ask questions of your principal, athletic director and coaches. Your role in following the rules will assure eligibility to participate in interscholastic sports or prevent your participation as an ineligible athlete, which would result in forfeiture of contests for your school.

1. AGE--High school students become ineligible if they reach their nineteenth (19th) birthday before September 1 of a current school year.

2. PHYSICAL EXAMINATION--Students must have on file, in the school's office, a physician's statement for the current school year (after April 15), certifying that he/she is physically able to compete in athletic practices and contests.

3. ENROLLMENT--Students must be enrolled in a school prior to the fourth Friday after Labor Day (first semester) or the fourth Friday of February (second semester).

4. SEMESTERS OF ENROLLMENT--Students cannot be eligible in high school for more than eight semesters, and the seventh and eighth semesters must be consecutive.

Students are allowed four first semesters and four second semesters of competition and cannot compete if they have graduated from high school.

5. ACADEMIC RECORDS--Students must have passed at least the equivalent of 20 credit hours in the previous semester of enrollment, and must be currently passing the same.

6. TRANSFER STUDENTS--A student in grades 9 through 12 who transfers to another high school is not eligible to participate in an interscholastic contest for one full semester unless the student qualifies for immediate eligibility under one or more of 15 published exceptions.

An ineligible transfer student who is confirmed to have transferred for athletic reasons is ineligible to participate in an interscholastic contest for two full semesters for the school to which the student transfers.

Students and parents anticipating a change of schools should first seek advice from their high school administration.

7. UNDUE INFLUENCE--The use of undue influence by any person directly or indirectly associated with a school to secure or encourage the attendance of a student for athletic purposes, shall cause the student to become ineligible for a minimum of one semester.

8. LIMITED TEAM MEMBERSHIP--After practicing with or participating with high school teams, students cannot participate in any athletic competition not sponsored by his or her school in the same sport in the same season.

Exceptions include ice hockey and all individual sports, which apply the rule from the point of a student's first participation in a contest or scrimmage, rather than practice.

Students in individual sports may participate in a maximum of two (2) non-school individual meets or contests during the school season while not representing their school.

9. ALL-STAR COMPETITION--Students shall not compete at any time in any sport under MHSAA jurisdiction in all-star contests or national championships, regardless of the method of selection.

Participation in such a contest shall cause that student to become ineligible for a maximum period of one year of school enrollment.

10. AWARDS & AMATEURISM--Students cannot receive money or other valuable consideration for participating in MHSAA-sponsored sports or officiating in interscholastic athletic contests, except as allowed by the MHSAA HANDBOOK.

Students may accept, for participating in MHSAA-sponsored sports, a symbolic or merchandise award which does not have a value over $25.

Banquets, luncheons, dinners, trips and admissions to camps or events, are permitted if accepted "in kind." Awards in the form of cash, merchandise, certificates, or any other type of negotiable document are never allowed.

5. You have passed the equivalent of at least 20 credit hours in the previous semester of school.

7. You have not changed schools without a corre- sponding move by your parents or persons with whom you were living.

8. You have not received money or other valuable considerations for participating in MHSAA- sponsored sports.

9. You have not participated in non-school con- tests during your sports season after having reported for your school team.

10. You have not competed in an all-star or nation al championship after having played for a high school team in the same sport.

By its nature, participation in interscholastic athletics includes risk of injury which may range in severity. Although serious injuries are not common in supervised school athletic programs, it is impossible to eliminate the risk.

Participants have the responsibility to help reduce the chance of injury. Players must obey all rules, report all physical problems to their coaches, follow a proper conditioning program, and inspect their own equipment daily.