At its monthly meeting Feb. 21, the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) announced that the organization’s executive committee had decided to change its transfer rules for high school athletes.
Per a newsbrief the organization released, the changes are as follows:
- Students whose first transfer is from IHSAA Member School to IHSAA Member School will maintain full eligibility if it occurs during their first six semesters of high school.
- Second and subsequent transfers and transfers from non-IHSAA Member Schools will be handled similarly to the way they have been in previous years.
- Students whose second transfer involves a return to the IHSAA Member School where they established their initial promotion eligibility will retain full eligibility within 365 days of their enrollment date at the previous school.
To IHSAA commissioner Paul Neidig, these changes were made due to the rising influence of school choice and legislators looking into the situation.
“It's been going on for two years. I think a lot of people forget that there was actually a bill during the last legislative session to significantly affect the association’s transfer rules,” Neidig said. “... It was certainly the first time that the legislators showed an entrance to getting involved in the transfer business here in the state of Indiana.”
Due to that, the idea of making changes became reality in the last year. The IHSAA wanted to make sure they could still have some say with the rules and members feared if they didn’t, it would become governed by the Indiana government.
Though the moves are likely to pass — it would be officially approved at the board of directors’ meeting on May 5, and if passed, it would take effect June 1 — not everyone is excited about the changes. Some Delaware County coaches and athletic directors do not support the way the process was handled.
“It's another hurdle. When we continue to think we're jumping hurdles or climbing out [of a hole] and getting closer to the top, the peak just gets further away,” Muncie Central head football coach Kyle Padgett said. “The timing couldn't have been worse for us.”
Padgett began coaching at the college football ranks. But he disliked some things that went into the sport, with things like recruiting. Due to this, he began coaching high school and became a teacher as well.
When he took over at Muncie Central in 2022, Padgett’s goal was to turn around the program. In his tenure, the Bearcats are 10-20. Though he wants to continue to put effort into the team, he believes the new transfer rules will hurt the purple and white.
“We bleed kids to Delta. We bleed kids to Yorktown,” Padgett said. “Oftentimes, they are some of our better athletes and better academic performers … Now what [the IHSAA is] saying, if you get in there and don't like your situation, you are allowed to leave. I'm all for a parent and a child making a decision if that's what they think is best for them. However, my biggest concern is bad actors that are out there influencing them.”
To Padgett, the bad actors are people who are trying to recruit kids to private teams and programs. He said some parents don’t understand what’s best for their kids’ athletic-wise, and certain individuals are taking advantage of that.
But one thing that frustrates members is how the IHSAA’s process was handled. Neidig said they talked to multiple members about this before making any decision.
“I've discussed it with our principals organization,” he said. “I started this discussion with our membership well over two years ago. Last spring, I went around the state. I discussed the transfer rules and what was coming, and athletic directors and principals were in those meetings. We did six of those meetings around the state.”
He said that the information was given to athletic directors around the state, but it was their job to pass it down to coaches. However, some Delaware County members believe it should have been handled differently.
“You feel that what you're doing is going to make a difference or make a change, and at some point, you realize you're doing the same thing over and over and over and doing what you think is right,” Padgett said. “At some point, just doing the right thing isn't enough. When you feel like no difference is being made, or your voice isn't being heard, [it gets repetitive].”
Because of the new rules, coaches fear what high school sports will become. But Neidig thinks people are only looking at the negatives and not the positives.
“There's been a lot of changes in the education environment in the state of Indiana,” he said. “If we didn't look at some changes, which is what we had to do, there was going to be state-led and it was going to be state law that really had the potential to eliminate the transfer rule in the state of Indiana.”
Though this gives the IHSAA control over the rule, some states have issues with implementing a rule like this. According to an article from the West Virginia Watch, the state implemented a similar rule in 2023. Now, coaches and athletic directors want it changed to what it was before.
Local members believe Indiana could have the same issue.
“With small schools like us, if we have a couple of our really good athletes transfer out, that can be a big hit,” Wes-Del athletic director and head football coach Matt Nuckols said. “Us losing a few good athletes is a much bigger hit than a [Class] 3A or 4A school losing one or two big athletes.”
Wes-Del is a Class 1A school and is one of the smallest schools in Delaware County. Though Nuckols said the Warriors have been lucky to get transfers in the past, he fears what would happen if it went the other way.
The other thing that worries members is whether or not coaches want to continue to do the job. Delta boys’ basketball head coach Mark Detweiler just ended his 27th regular season as a head coach and he thinks that could become rare along with things like multi-sport athletes in a few years.
“I think the landscape of it is you're gonna force out people. They're not gonna be lifers like myself,” Detweiler said. “That's a sad reality of the culture. I'm not a fan of limited contact. I think we're just forcing kids or scheduling kids out of being multi-sport athletes … We're not letting coaches be human beings and the end result is like I said, I will become a dinosaur.”
When he started, there wasn’t so much demanded of coaches. He used the example of summer practices. When he started coaching, there might be three open gym sessions a week for players. Now, his staff is already scheduling a summer schedule though the state tournament hasn’t even begun.
“[Basketball] head coaches feel like June is truly as busy and hectic as the [in-season] month of January,” Detweiler said.
On the football side of things, Indiana is seeing a shortage of coaches. According to the Indiana Football Coaching Association, there are 30 Indiana varsity head coaching jobs still open. With 427 Hoosier high schools that offer football, that’s 7.02 percent of the state. Earlier this summer, there were as many as 51 openings.
Padgett himself is currently studying at Ball State to get a higher degree in education. He said this is becoming more and more common as coaches don’t know what the future holds for the profession.
However, he does know one thing. As a head coach, he said he has to give up time with his family. He misses his kids’ sporting events and time with his wife to complete the role. But with students being able to leave after trying to build a solid relationship, even he has questioned what the point is.
“I'm sitting there thinking, ‘Man, I missed five of my son's baseball games this past spring training for football. Is that ever worth it? Probably not,” Padgett said. “But you're pouring into a kid, and you're enhancing his life, you guys have a relationship and you're going to go through these battles together, it's worth it.
“But then, if [he transfers], and then it happens again, and maybe it happens again, that's when you start to evaluate, ‘Is my time being spent wisely?”
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu or via X @ZachCarter85.
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