Super Hornet said:
There is specific paperwork that's supposed to be filed with the section when a family moves. If said paperwork is NOT filed, the kid is ineligible, PERIOD. The whole idea is to prevent transfers that are solely sports-related, such as when Olympic water polo player Chris Humbert transferred from Lodi to Tokay during the '80s or the mass exodus of football players from Stockton-St. Mary's to Stockton-Franklin during the late '90s. Of course, with that last one, there were rumors of cash payments from the then-Franklin HC; MAJOR scandal. It was those transfers (not to mention the illegal recruiting Franklin was doing in Samoa) that actually made the inner-city HS good; as soon as the transfer factory got shut down, they immediately started sucking again, as they always have.
That's not to say that this applies to THIS kid. The sad thing is that to prevent these scandals, you have to have a filing rule that is applied across the board, and often the parents are unaware of the rule. Naturally, the school losing the kid is loathe to inform the parents, because if they don't know about it, they can file a protest with the section for illegal recruiting. Sounds like something that MIGHT have happened in THIS case.
SH,
The kid was not at all declared ineligible for the reasons you're speculating. In fact, the CIF transfer rules were changed this past Spring. Under the previous rules, a student athlete was allowed one transfer, even to an out of boundary school, prior to their Sophomore year. If a student athlete requested a transfer AFTER their Sophomore year had begun, then they had to file paperwork and reasoning why. If the transfer was deemed appropriate due to legitimate relocation or because the current school doesn't offer a desired academic program, then student athlete's request would likely be granted and he/she would not have to endure any type of lengthy sit out period (usually around 2 games).
Under the rules implemented this new school year, a student athlete can transfer at any time for essentially any reason. However, they may be subjected to a "sit out" period of up to 35 days for whatever athletic sports they participated in previously. For example, if a student athlete lives in Citrus Heights, doesn't relocate, but transfers to Folsom High School before the first day of the school year AND played football for his previous school, he would be ineligible until October 1st (basically the first 5 games). The same 35-day sit out period would apply for each and every other sport that student athlete also participated in previously.
In the case of Cole Hannum, since his transfer request included an actual relocation, he could have avoided the up to 35-day sit out period by submitting a hardship waiver and proving relocation. Apparently, he did all that and would have encountered no problems on that front.
In the end, the reason he was ruled ineligible had nothing to do with paperwork not being filed or that they felt his desire to transfer was possibly motivated by athletics. Under the new rules, the latter really doesn't even matter anymore.
He was ruled ineligible on the basis of "undue influence" as Pete Saco (who overturned his appeal) believes that he followed the Marysville coach over to Nevada Union. If not for the coincidence of the Marysville JV coach (for whom the kid had never played) accepting a job at the same school to which he applied to transfer, Hannum would have been ruled eligible to play for the Miners. At worst, he would have had to sit out 5 games if his hardship on the basis of relocation was denied. But he wouldn't have missed the entire season.
