Coaches and athletic leaders are urging lawmakers to put limits on West Virginia’s controversial high school sports transfer rule.
A law passed in 2023 allows student-athletes to transfer to a new school once during their high school years without having to change their home address, and they can start playing immediately.
This change has been linked to one-sided football scores and more injuries to athletes. Athletic directors are also concerned it might hurt fundraising efforts for school programs.
“A lot of our concerns aren’t things that are quantifiable. We can’t quantify how this tears apart the community fabric aspect of our programs,” David Viands, president of the West Virginia Athletic Directors Association, told lawmakers Tuesday at the state Capitol.
“They’re displacing students who have lived in that community and have been in that community for a long time,” he continued. “We need to evaluate long-term implications for this rule and look at solutions.”
During the 2024 school year, 433 athletes transferred to high schools during the fall sports season, which is three times the number of transfers before the rule changed.
“We’re seeing a lot of mid-season transfers. In Jefferson County, just this season we had four mid-season transfers … right before basketball,” Viands said. “We get the transfers right before the season starts.”
Viands also said the rule benefits students with the financial ability to transfer, as families often need to provide transportation. The rule has been mostly used in more urban areas of the state, like Charleston, Morgantown, and parts of the Eastern Panhandle.
“It does create a disparity in schools that if you lose a lot of seniors and juniors, you’re now playing a lot of sophomores and freshmen,” he said.
Despite Governor Jim Justice and some Republican lawmakers agreeing that the rule needs to be reexamined, House members did not take up a bill to change the transfer rule last year.
Del. Wayne Clark, R-Jefferson, said, “We’re seeing exactly what we thought was going to happen with this in place. I strongly suggest we look at this this session.”
Del. Jimmy Willis, R-Brooke, questioned why lawmakers should interfere with students’ ability to choose where they play if they are working toward a college athletic scholarship.
“Why should we tell them not to go there?” he asked.
Viands pointed out that less than 2% of high school athletes actually receive athletic scholarships for college.
Jamie Tallman, an athletic director in Grant County, hoped lawmakers would reconsider last year’s failed bill. House Bill 5011 would have allowed freshmen and sophomores to transfer, giving up eligibility for a year, but it would have blocked transfers for juniors and seniors.
“That’s something we could live with,” Tallman told lawmakers.
Viands said the state needs to slow down the number of juniors and seniors transferring schools for sports.
“We move somewhere towards a little more restrictions and guardrails to the transfer for athletics,” he said.
The legislative session begins on Feb. 12.
