An ever-growing problem in the sports community that has affected our Weber High School this summer and fall is high school recruiting. High school recruiting causes issues, drama and may result in serious repercussions for coaches and players involved.
The issue of high school recruiting hit close to home this summer and fall when accusations of illegal recruiting were taken against coaches of the Weber High football team. These allegations surrounded two players from Davis School District and resulted in the firing of Assistant Coach Zac Conners over claims that he exhibited “undue influence” on them. Undue influence is the influence by which a person is persuaded to act otherwise than by their own free will or with enough attention to resulting consequences. Article 1, Section 10-A of the UHSAA bylaws states the “use of undue influence by any person, connected with or not connected with a member school, to secure the enrollment or transfer of a student to a member school for the purpose of participation in Association athletic activities is prohibited.”
The events at Weber High show how seriously transfer legitimacy inquiries are taken and dealt with. In addition to Connors being fired, the Weber High Football Head Coach, Jayson Anderson, served a one-game suspension, although he had been cleared of any involvement in the undue influence. This also prompted an eligibility hearing for the two transfer players, which resulted in both students being deemed eligible to continue playing at Weber High. The investigation into the situation also started an investigation into principal Chris Earnest’s handling of the recruitment violations. While her investigation started with football, other things popped up which eventually led top Earnest choosing to retire after 33 years.
In Utah, and most other states, recruiting by coaches from high school to high school is not allowed. Student-athletes must play sports at the school they are within their borders of and attend. When a student transfers to another high school, there are only a few reasons that can allow that student to be eligible to continue playing. These include a full family move into the boundaries of the school, move because of a divorce, or because of a transfer due to documented bullying. If they transfer for another reason, namely for sports, they must be suspended from playing at the varsity level for 12 months following the day they transfer.
Open enrollment has made it easier to subtly recruit players to a team using loopholes. Utah code 53G-6-402 states, “A school is open for enrollment of nonresident students if the enrollment level is at or below the open enrollment threshold. If a school’s enrollment falls below the open enrollment threshold, the local school board shall allow a nonresident student to enroll in the school.” This makes it extremely easy for athletes to go to whatever school they would like, regardless of whether they live in the boundaries of a different school. However, the UHSAA by-laws also say, “any transferring student shall lose eligibility (including varsity, junior varsity, sophomore, and freshman) for twelve months under the following circumstance: the transfer is motivated, in whole or in part, by intent to participate in varsity athletics.” While this should be enough to deter athletes from transferring for these reasons, many still risk the transfer to play.
There are many ill-effects that come because of players trying to illegitimately transfer. Transferring takes away the playing time of those already playing at that school and could put the playing time of the transferring player in jeopardy if they are outperformed. Recruitment is also not fair for teams that have worked to build their program naturally with players who live in bounds and have worked hard as a team to grow as players and as a team. It causes chaos both at the school they are transferring from and drama at the school they are transferring to. The consequences for coaches and leadership can be severe as well, as seen at Weber High.
Regulations for recruitment are well enforced in Weber School District, with the Weber High situation being self-reported by the district, but this could be attributed to the over-enrollment of Weber. Next year, the new West Field High School will lower numbers, which would make transferring specifically for sports easier at Weber High. Hopefully, Weber School District will continue to hold the high standard for fairness in sports even if other districts are laxer in their regulations with athletic transfers. Even with the opportunity to transfer made easier, we should always focus on building strong, competitive teams instead of recruiting them.