Transfer rule gets a tough interpretation

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Clarification of the new CIF transfer rule was presented at a meeting this week of the 10 section commissioners, and this was the message sent: Whether a student and his family move or not, if the student transfers to a school where his former coach now works, the student will being declared ineligible for varsity competition until he can prove the transfer was not athleticially motivated, or a year has passed.

‘The purpose of the rule is to deter athletically motivated transfers,’ Southern Section Commissioner Jim Stauton said.

CIF Executive Director Marie Ishida, pictured left, and legal counsel advised the section commissioners that whether a student makes a valid residential move or not, the commissioners can declare a student ineligible if they are simply following a coach, according to Staunton.

The clarification is not good news for four boys’ basketball players who left Sylmar and enrolled at Van Nuys this year after the hiring of former Sylmar assistant coach Charles White. Based on the CIF rule interpretation, it seems likely that City Section Commissioner Barbara Fiege will declare the players ineligible until they and their parents can provide proof that their transfers were not athletically motivated.

- Eric Sondheimer