There is no question that the subject of "transfers" gets more people fired up than just about any other topic. I think on this topic, we have to define what we mean by a "transfer" as most of us have widely differing views of the propriety of a "transfer" depending on the circumstances.

First, there is the "transfer" who comes from outside the area for purposes unrelated to sports.

I don't think anyone begrudges the kid whose family has moved from one place to another, usually for economic or other reasons unrelated to sports. Hart has had a few kids like this who have benefited the football program. A few years ago, Cody Joyce showed up at Hart as a sophomore. His family had moved from Florida to SoCal because his older sister had gotten an acting job. He had never played football before. He attended Hart as a soph and played varsity baseball. His buddies talked him into going out for football his junior year. By his senior year he was an all-CIF receiver and went on to UCLA. There are always kids in this category who show up at all the SCV schools unexpectedly -- which is not surprising given the huge numbers of new homes built throughout this area in the last few years. Going back to my original premise, I don't think anyone can legitimately begrudge these kids or the programs for which they play.

Second -- the kid whose family deliberately moves after the kid is already in high school, so that the kid finishes up in a certain, presumably better, program. I know of only one kid that falls in this category at Hart. Mike Kockica was a bench-warming backup junior QB at Crescenta Valley in the '92 season. He had little prospect of starting at CV his senior year. Apparently at the urging of Bob Johnson of all people (from whom he was taking QB lessons at the time), Mike's family moved to the SCV and he ended up at Hart his senior year. He started, was all-CIF, got a full-ride and ended up at Virginia Tech. I can say with some certainty that no one at Hart had anything to do with this but there is no question that Hart football benefited. (In an aside, Mike graduated from VT and now lives and works in the SCV.)

I'm ambivalent about this type of transfer. In the example above, it worked out great for everyone involved -- the kid would have been a non-player at his old school -- but I think that is somewhat rare. Uprooting a family solely for football seems pretty drastic to me. I certainly don't like the "forum shopping" element. "Loyalty" usually is an issue in these circumstances. If the kid is a non-player with little prospect of playing I don't see it as a factor. On the other hand if the kid is a starter and abandons teammates and the coaches who developed his s skills for greener pastures, it is reprehensible in most instances.

There is not now nor has there ever been a CIF proscription on this type of transfer. (The only CIF implication would be "undue influence" or "recruiting")

The third type of "transfer" -- the kid whose family moves before the kid starts high school so the kid will play all four years in a certain program

This is not really a "transfer" at all since the kid attends the same high school for all four years. I don't have much of a problem with this at all since one is selecting a school from the beginning ("school choice") and sticking with it, as opposed to "forum shopping" while the kid is in school. Like the previous situation there is no CIF proscription on this. (Again, the only CIF implication would be "undue influence" or "recruiting.")

It is my understanding that Matt Moore who played QB at Hart would fit into this category. He apparently lived in Palmdale until he was in junior high school when his family moved to the SCV. I've been told that one of the factors in the move was so that he would end up at Hart. I don't know whether that is accurate. In any event he was enrolled at Hart for all four years. I don't know whether he spent any of his junior high years in the SCV.

In all three of the previous examples, the family moved into the new school district. Now we get to the more problematic areas.

Fourth -- the kid who enrolls as a freshman at a school in the district but outside his own attendance area under open enrollment or pursuant to an inter-district enrollment agreement.

Pursuant to a state law dating back to 1995, districts with more than one high school must set up attendance areas for each school. Kids living in that area automatically get to go that school. Kids in the district who live outside that attendance area can apply to go to that (or ANY) school in the district and must be allowed to enroll if there is room. If more kids apply than there are spots, the school must hold a non-discriminatory "lottery" (i.e. you just can't pick the athletes) to select the "open enrollment" kids. (This rule does not apply to specialty programs like magnet schools). Schools can close off open enrollment only if they are overcrowded.

In addition, some districts have inter-district agreements allowing enrollments across district lines.

The open enrollment law applies across the board and is unrelated to athletics. I have no problem with the kid who starts out at and stays at the same school for four years. Certainly in the Hart District there were hundreds of kids who took advantage of this between 1995 and 1999, most notably at Valencia and to a somewhat lesser extent at Hart. Very few of these kids were involved in athletics and even fewer had any success in athletic programs. Because of overcrowding, open enrollment in the Hart District has not been available since 1999. The last kids at Hart who were there under open enrollment graduated in 2002 (2001 football season).

I basically see this as akin to the parents choosing between enrolling their kid in a private school or a public school -- its largely a question of school choice. No forum shopping, no poaching of players developed at some other school, no abandoning of teammates etc.

Hart has had several kids, some successful, some not, who attended Hart all four years under open enrollment, the most notable would be Chris Frome who graduated in 2002 and is at Notre Dame. There were no kids under open enrollment at Hart after the 2001 football season.

The CIF has no rules, current or proposed, that impacts on the four-year open enrollment kid's athletic eligibility.

Fifth -- the kid who transfers from one high school to another, after starting high school and without moving and solely for sports.

This is the category that really enrages people. The kid who plays for a couple of years at one high school and then moves onto a better program at another school, usually in the district, pursuant to open enrollment or pursuant to an inter-district transfer agreement.

This has been what sets people off about Mission Viejo, Taft and Westlake and some other programs as well. Some kid who has been "developed" at some other school, abandons his teammates to fill a slot at a stronger program.

This happened at Hart once: in 1997, three players (Pat Norton a soph, Shane Lavoie a junior and Mike Alba a junior) all transferred pursuant to open enrollment from Saugus to Hart, mid-stream, clearly for football purposes and clearly to become part of a better program. Undoubtedly, Hart was helped as Norton started for 3 years and was all-CIF and Lavoie started for 2 (Alba started a couple of games when another player was hurt). While Hart benefited, I'm not sure the kids benefited all that much. Norton clearly was on college scouts' radar before transferring and would have ended up in a first rate college program in any event. Lavoie and Alba got the benefit of playing on a CIF championship team but did not play after high school.

There are many other examples that appear pretty egregious: the Alemany RB who bailed mid-season, transferred to St. Paul and then played against Alemany that same season; the family that has moved their sons from Loyola (a top drawer school in all respects!) to Mater Dei to Los Al; the last several Westlake QBs; a truckload of kids that have ended up at MV as juniors and seniors. All to often it looks like the kid was "poached" (i.e., recruited) by the new school.

The CIF has implemented a rule which put the brakes on a lot of this. It went into effect in the summer of 2003. Interestingly, we saw a whole slew of mid-year transfers that spring in order to beat the implementation of the new rule (Rudy Carpenter from Newbury Park to Westlake and Mark Sanchez from Santa Margarita to Mission Viejo being the most prominent).

A transfer that doesn't involve a legitimate change of address will preclude the kid from playing varsity for one year. It'll be interesting to see how things develop over the next few years in this regard. I expect we'll see all the subversive stuff (fake addresses, changes of guardianship etc). Next we'll no doubt see some parents hire a lawyer. Will the CIF stick to its guns?

June 2004