As the option to transfer to high schools becomes more available to students, many are taking advantage of this opportunity to find the right place for themselves. Although this process is beneficial for many students, those who are athletes must follow regulations put in place by the California Interscholastic Federation.
According to CIF regulations, a transfer student must wait out the first half of the season. Physical education teacher Adrian Castillo explained that there can be some exceptions to the requirements for a student’s transfer that affects when they are allowed to play a sport.
“I know there are some limitations around students transferring schools based on some hardships and being able to play at the school that they transferred to… the line of when they (CIF) determine if you’re able to play or not,” Castillo said. “It has to be something where there was documented violence in the home or abuse… If they don’t qualify for the hardship… I believe they have to sit out a full season or full year of sports participation.”
Castillo believes that a reason behind the rules placed on students who transfer stems from the CIF wanting to regulate the sport-motivated reasons behind transferring schools.
“CIF is trying to avoid people transferring for invalid reasons.They won’t don’t want people transferring just for specific coaches or they’re not getting enough game time at one school, so they’re transferring to a different school, ‘cause they get more playing time or better opportunities,” Castillo said. ”It just encourages students to stay within the system that they have and be able to work with that.”
Due to differing circumstances, transfer athletes have unique experiences and wait times when wanting to continue their sport. Senior wrestler Angelinah Sky De Leon transferred from Wilcox and experienced an unusual waiting period than expected.
“I still had a period I had to wait, but it wasn’t as long. It was like a month compared to some people having to wait almost the whole season out,” De Leon said.
Similarly, junior swimmer junior Jade Aguilar faced an unconventional waiting period when she joined the swim team and was treated as a regular student athlete.
“I could play right away. The only thing that we really had to do was fill out the doctors (forms) for him (the coach) and the physical and that was it. I didn’t have to go through a long process,” Aguilar said.
Transferring athletes may also face more than athletic hardships. Aguilar shared that her exposure to a new team in a different school made it difficult to connect with teammates at the start, but gradually she grew as the environment became more welcoming.
“It was kind of hard to meet everyone, especially since you don’t really get to talk to them a lot ‘cause you’re just in the water and we all had to learn each other’s names and we’re all doing group exercises, so we could do more bonding and the coaches were very supportive of us,” Aguilar said.
Having to meet new people when joining a team can be more difficult for some than others, regardless of the regulations they must follow. Castillo reassures transfer athletes to stay with their sport even through its difficulties and continue to join new environments that challenge them.
“I just encouraged people to go out and play sports regardless of what opportunities there are out there,” Castillo said. “It’s important to learn how to work with people who may be difficult at times in life and work through that and also put yourself in a position of taking risks.”