Eligibility Question
 

I am the Head Coach of a Middle School Softball team in PA. It is a small private school. Here is my question. The school can only support a Varsity HS team and a Middle School team.

Can I move (without jeapordizing the player's eligibility) the Middle School team to become the JV team for HS? The problem is if a player does not make Varsity, she cannot play for an entire season. I know we may take our lumps, but in the long run, we would become stronger and truly support the future of the Varsity team.

Now if this can be done, can an 8th grader play "X" number of innings at the Varsity level and not jeapordize her playing time on Varsity when she is in High School.

The school the I coach at is a small Christian school and the enrollment cannot support 3 teams. This truly make sense, the eliminating the Middle School team and build for the future.

PLEASE HELP!!

Thanks


Barbara

Barbara, this is not a rule issue, but something that needs to be addressed with your local sanctioning body. For example, a private school in Texas is sanction by the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools(TAPPS), and such issues are governed by them.

Ask your state high school athletic association.

Agree with the other responses, this is completely a local or state issue. We have some PA umpires here; many one can point you in the right direction.

Barb,
Is your school playing under PIAA rules?
If so, what district?

My first thought was to tell you to ask the Athletic Director. But, in my dealings with ADs over the years, most have no clue.

Here is the contact for PA:

Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association
550 Gettysburg Rd
P O Box 2008
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055-6610
Phone: (717) 697-0374
Fax: (717) 697-7721
http://www.piaa.org

Good luck,

Bob

Thank you for all of your responses. I believe we "follow" PIAA, I am not sure where they are sanctioned. Last season was my first season. I have contacted the AD, and he has not gotten back to me yet.

I would like to give it a try....since we do not have enough girls to field a "true" JV team, combining the Middle School girls with the girls that do not make Varsity would make sense.

I will have to wait and see what happens.

Thanks again.

Barbara