Texas bill would allow one-time athletic transfers in high school sports
Some North Texas coaches are warning against a bill that would change transfer rules for high school athletics, a shift that the bill author says is necessary to ensure parents have a say in where their child plays sports.
Currently, high school athletes must sit out of varsity athletics for a year if they transfer schools for athletic reasons.
If the proposed bill passes through the Texas Legislature and is signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, student athletes would be able to transfer once during their high school career for athletic reasons. The receiving district and the child’s parent must agree to the transfer in writing, per the recently filed legislation.
Most bills do not become law, and the transfer rule change didn’t gain traction in 2023 when last proposed by Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawins, a San Antonio Democrat, but some Fort Worth-area coaches caution lawmakers as they prepare to head back to Austin for the next legislative session.
“I think it’s going to become the wild, wild West,” said Arlington Sam Houston football coach Chris James.
Arlington Bowie football coach Joseph Sam agrees.
“To me, I feel like you’re opening up Pandora’s box,” he said.
A one-time transfer
Gervin-Hawkins comes from a sports family and has a background in education. Her brother George Gervin is better known as the “Iceman” and holds a place in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for his time playing for the Virginia Squires, San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls.
She also co-founded the George Gervin Academy, a public charter school with three locations in San Antonio and a Prep academy in Phoenix. Gervin previously served as superintendent and is now a special projects coordinator. The school used to be part of the UIL, but now competes in the Texas Charter School Academic and Athletic League.
Gervin-Hawkins said she has a “major problem” with student athletes being penalized for transferring schools for athletics. She points out that students can already transfer schools for academic reasons.
“The goal of this legislation is to make sure, with parent choice, that they can move their child for athletic reasons,” she said.
In professional sports, “many are called and few are chosen,” but athletics can open doors, Gervin-Hawkins said.
“My eagerness to get this piece of legislation passed is to give our young people an opportunity to be able to go on to college and advance their life, if they can,” Gervin-Hawkins said.
Gervin Hawkins filed a version of the one time transfer rule during the last legislative session. It received a committee hearing, garnering testimony from those working in high school athletics, students and parents. The bill was not voted out of committee and ultimately did not pass.
North Texas Coaches weigh in
Allowing students to transfer for athletic reasons would be a “drastic shift” from the original model of having student athletes play at the school where they’re zoned to attend, said Aledo boys basketball coach Brian Blackburn.
To James, Sam Houston’s football coach, the change would cause more harm than good.
There are cases when transfers are justified, James said. He used one of his former players as an example, where the player’s mom had to move and didn’t have a way to transport her child to his old high school.
But James and other coaches interviewed by the Star-Telegram said they expect a rise in recruiting were the transfers for athletics allowed.
“You’re going to have a lot of people, not high school coaches or teachers, but you’re going to have a lot of people — so called ‘street agents’ — go around and find kids and pluck kids,” James said.
He likened it to the transfer portal system in college football.
“II don’t think that’s helping kids with some adversity situations,” James said. “You see it in college football today. We have 5-, 6,000 kids in the transfer portal, really most of them for no reason other than to do something new, and I think that ultimately hurts a kid.”
Blackburn noted that the NCAA is dealing with things like tampering and recruiting during a season.
“I think some of those things might trickle down,” Blackburn said.
He also said that the rule would be hard to enforce due to the number of possible transfer scenarios.
North Crowley girls basketball coach Lori Shead isn’t sure how to feel about the proposed rule change.
“I can see some positive for those that would be overlooked in some cases, but I can also see the negative in regard to, again, you being able to build a super team at your schools,” Shead said.
High school recruiting is already happening, Shead said. Whether a one time transfer rule would help shut it down or exacerbate it is unclear, she said.
Gervin-Hawkins said limiting transfers to one time alleviates the potential of students jumping from school to school. She noted recruiting already occurs.
“I would petition the coaches, let’s be fair to kids,” Gervin Hawkins said. “Let’s not worry about their program.”
Sam, the Bowie football coach, raised concerns that students would transfer to a new school after being recruited, but then want to transfer back to their original program because promises made don’t come to fruition. He also predicted that certain schools — singling out charter schools, prep schools and suburban schools — would take advantage of the rule.
“I think she’s not seeing that unintended consequence,” he said.
A change in high school sports
Blackburn, the Aledo coach, sees more pressing issues before lawmakers, such as rules around name, image and likeness and the effect a voucher system could have on public school athletics.
“As a coach, I know I’m going to have to adapt,” Blackburn said.
Some changes have been exciting, he said. He pointed to allowing summer workouts and the TABC summer showcase as past examples.
“But some changes, I just want to make sure that we have rules, regulations in place that can handle massive overhaul of public school athletics, which, that’s what the one time transfer rule would do.”
We’re in a different time, Gervin-Hawkins said. She pointed to name, image and likeness opportunities in college sports as an example — a shift that she supports.
Before, students had to make it to the pros to earn money from sports. Now, that’s an opportunity in college. That money could be used to help take their family out of poverty, Gervin-Hawkins said.
“If there’s opportunities where a young person can make money, even in college and don’t have to go to the pros, it opens up many opportunities,” she said. “Why would we stymie that opportunity for them?”
This story was originally published November 27, 2024 at 2:44 PM.
