Jim Rosica
The head of an athletic oversight body on Wednesday told lawmakers he needs a change in state law to better combat recruiting in high school sports.
The Senate’s PreK-12 Education Committee held a workshop on high school athletics issues but considered no legislation.
Dr. Roger Dearing, CEO of the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA), told the panel of his organization’s struggle in proving recruiting because the legal burden is too high.
Reducing it from “clear and convincing evidence” would require a change in statute. That standard requires the association to prove that it is “substantially more likely” than not that a coach or other school official wrongly enticed a student-athlete to switch schools.
Dearing said his group has successfully proved improper recruiting only “five or six times” in recent years.
“We really need some statutory help with that,” he told the committee.
But Dearing also heard from legislators still concerned that he was stifling students’ ability to play sports at the school of their choosing.
Conservative lawmakers have targeted the body in recent years after constituents complained about their children not being able to play certain sports because of strict transfer rules, especially when youngsters change schools but don’t move.
The group’s defenders, including Democrats and some public school officials, countered that weakening the rules would create a free agency system for high school athletes.
Allowing students too easily to attend class at one school but play ball for another could encourage recruiting of high school and even middle school players, they say.
State Sen. Bill Montford, a Tallahassee Democrat, used contrasting examples.
What’s the difference, he asked, between a parent wanting her child to go to a math magnet school because it offers the best chance at getting a college scholarship, and another parent who wants her student-athlete to go to a school with a winning team because it means the best chance for an athletic scholarship?
“At some point, we need to have a discussion about that,” said Montford, the former elected schools superintendent in Leon County.
As to complaints about the system, he added that they’re usually from the parent of the kid who got bumped from a team because of a transfer student.
This marks the fifth consecutive year that lawmakers have taken on the organization, which oversees 32 male and female high-school sports. At least one bill introduced this past Session would have done away with the association altogether.
But Dearing has said the organization is simply pursuing its mission: Enforcing student-athlete eligibility rules.
Committee Chairwoman Nancy Detert, a Venice Republican, warned Dearing he’d likely be called back soon as bills affecting the FHSAA begin to be filed.
One bill (HB 31) already submitted for next Session would ensure that the organization is revenue-neutral, among other things.
“It’s complicated, and like everything in life, it’s getting a lot more complicated,” Detert said.
