I. ELIGIBLE STUDENTS
Commencing with date of enrollment at a
member school, a full-time student, who is in good standing
according to the policies of the particular school and subject to the
other limitations herein prescribed, is eligible to participate in league
competitions in the MIAA. Students are considered full time and part
of the school community when they take a majority of their academic
classes on campus within their school, during the traditional school
year.
Foreign based students who attend an MIAA member school will be
eligible for participation presuming that they meet all MIAA guidelines
for eligibility and are attending a member school in conjunction with
programs administered by the Council on Standards for International
Educational Travel (CSIET). Information regarding CSIET programs may
be obtained by calling (888) 787-2970 or visit their website at
www.csiet.org. To prove their eligibility, the student athlete must
provide:
a. Birth Certificate, Visa or Passport verifying date of birth
b. Secondary School academic credentials
c. Documentation of athletic experience in their native
country
d. Eligibility Verification Form
II. AGE LIMITATIONS
A student who has attained his/her 19th
birthday before August 31 of a given academic year is not eligible to
participate.
A student who has attained his/her 19th birthday on or after August
31st of a given academic year may participate only on the Varsity
level.
III. LIMITS OF PARTICIPATION
A student may not represent any
school, regardless of its affiliation to this Association, in any one sport
at any competitive level for more than four years. Additionally,
students may only be enrolled in grades 9-12 for participation in
association athletic programs.
A student may not represent more than one school during any
academic year in interscholastic athletics regardless of its affiliation to
this association. A student athlete may appeal this guideline based on
a move of his primary residence.
A student who has graduated from a secondary education program,
either domestic or foreign, is not eligible to participate.
IV. AMATEUR STATUS
To be eligible to participate in contests of
this Association, a student must be an amateur. As such, he/she may
not receive, directly or indirectly, any salary, stipend, incentive,
payment, award, gratuity, gift, educational expenses or expense
allowance as a result of participation in any sport or sports team. In
order to preserve students’ eligibility for college athletics, MIAA
athletes are required to adhere to the policies for avoiding
“professionalism” as defined by the NCAA.
V. TRANSFER STUDENTS
A transfer student is one who changes
enrollment from one school to another.
A transfer student who changes schools during the school year and has
participated in interscholastic athletics at any level at his former school
is ineligible to participate in interscholastic activities for the remainder
of that school year. Additionally, that student, if he or she was a
varsity athlete at their previous school, is ineligible for participation in
that (those) sport(s) for one calendar year from the date of enrollment.
Please refer to the definition of a “varsity athlete”.
A transfer student who migrates from one member school to
another and was a varsity athlete at his / her previous school is
ineligible to participate in that sport at the new school for one calendar
year beginning with the first date of enrollment at the new school. If
that student was an undersquad athlete (freshman or junior varsity) at
his previous school, he / she may transfer without penalty unless
transferring under stipulations in paragraph 1.
An Open Enrollment Period will be offered for non-member student
athletes. From June 1 through September 1, student athletes
transferring from any non-member school to a member school, may
transfer to and participate in interscholastic athletics, at any level,
without penalty. In order to qualify under this guideline, all appropriate
paperwork must be completed and the enrollment contract deposit
must be paid on or before September 1. The MIAA reserves the right to
request copies of any enrollment contract. The student athlete must
physically be attending classes on the first day of fall classes or by
September 1. If the opening of the member school is after September
1, the required paperwork and deposit must be complete on or before
the September 1st date.
30 Day Rule - A transfer student, regardless of prior participation,
who transfers between September 1 and May 30 of any academic year,
may not participate in a league competition of this Association until 30
days after the date of enrollment at the new school, which date may
not precede the last day of the student’s attendance at the prior
school.
Date of Enrollment – Date of enrollment is defined as the first day the
student is physically attending classes.
Varsity Athlete - For transfer purposes, a varsity athlete is defined
as a student who has participated in any way in a varsity game which
determines seedings in a tournament or placement in a conference or
in any game that counts towards the point system for a conference or
state playoff. Varsity game participation is based on participation in
grades 9 thru 12 only. A student athlete is limited to four years of
participation in any one sport in grades 9 thru 12.
The only exceptions to this policy are the following:
a) if a student were to change their primary residence; a change in
primary
residence means a move of more than 30 miles from their present
residence.
b) if a student’s present school eliminates the athletic program in
which he/she is
participating.
c) a student who attends a boarding school for one full academic year,
or who
resides at a temporary residence to attend another school, may
transfer to a
member school without penalty regardless of prior participation.
This policy is effective as of June 1, 2009.
A transfer student, regardless of prior participation, may not
participate in the MIAA until an Eligibility Verification form is submitted
to the league office and approval is granted. Additionally, a student
athlete transferring from one member school to another, may not
participate in interscholastic athletics until all financial obligations at
the previous school have been satisfied.
VI. MIGRATION BETWEEN SQUAD LEVELS
Unless specifically
stipulated otherwise by the sports committee chairman, in any given
season once a student has played in a league game on a higher squad
level, the student may not play in league games at a lower level.
Squad level migration requests must be made in writing to the
sport committee chairperson prior to this migration. Requests must
indicate the reasons for the migration and the names and positions of
the players to be considered.
Regardless of the league status of an athletic competition, a student
may not participate in two squad levels of the same sport in the same
day.
Migration should only occur if there is a danger of an undersquad team
being unable to complete their schedule.
The league will establish a date for initial rosters after which time no
player may migrate down to an undersquad team.
VII. RECRUITMENT
In conformity with the purpose and spirit of
this Association, the following principles govern the manner in which
member schools influence and encourage a student to become
affiliated with a school:
a) No school, through any of its officers, representatives or by any
other means, shall directly or indirectly offer inducement to a student
of any school, regardless of the student’s age or academic grade, to
terminate enrollment at said school and migrate to another for athletic
purposes.
b) It is considered appropriate for a school’s admissions department
to provide a student information about its school; however coaches
and other members of a school’s athletic department are prohibited
from contacting or communicating with a student or the student’s
parents/guardians until such time as an inquiry regarding the student’s
possible admission to the school has been initiated by the student’s
parent/guardian through the admissions department. This policy does
not preclude attendance by coaches or member school representatives
to non-high school athletic events for the purpose of screening
prospective student athletes. On the occasion that a prospective
student athlete or his parents seek information from a member
school’s representative attending a non-high school event, the
school’s representative may answer preliminary questions about the
member school. The school’s representative should indicate to the
prospective student athlete and his parents that further contact by an
athletic department representative can not be made until the
admissions department at the member school is contacted by the
parents.
VIII. ELIGIBILITY VIOLATIONS
The deliberate or inadvertent
violation of the conditions of a student-athlete’s eligibility results in
the forfeiture of all contests in which the ineligible student
participated. It is the competence of the executive director, upon his
own or any member school’s initiative, to judge the eligibility status of
a student-athlete.
IX. EJECTION RULE
A player who is ejected from a non-league
game or contest (for other than physical or verbal abuse of a game
official) is automatically suspended from participation in that team’s
next scheduled game or contest. An individual ejected before, during
or after any league contest, the result of which affects the standings or
playoff seedings of the competing schools, is suspended for the next
scheduled league contest. An individual ejected during a school’s final
league or non-league contest must serve his suspension during his
team’s next scheduled league contest to include a league
championship, tournament or playoff game. If the individual’s school
is not participating in the league championship tournament, the
suspension carries over to the first conference contest in the next year.
In the event of an individual performing in a tournament, it is the next
scheduled time he is to compete. The two yellow card rule (soft yellow)
in soccer does not fall under this ruling.
A player ejected, before, during or after a contest, for the physical or
verbal abuse of a game official or for an ejection involving an
altercation with an opposing player which results in attempted or actual
physical contact with that player is automatically suspended for the
next schedule contest, and may not participate again until a review of
the ejection incident is made by the executive director. The executive
director, after conferring with the individual’s head of school, athletic
director and executive committee, may impose additional penalties.
The Executive Director will publish ejection decisions
(offense/punishment) to all member schools. The additional penalties
are non appealable. Penalties issued by officials for unsportsmanlike or
dangerous physical contact to another player may come under the
review of the executive director or executive committee for additional
sanctions.
It is the responsibility of the individual’s athletic director to enforce
this rule and notify the executive director, for documentation purposes
only, of the ejection and subsequent suspension.
The game officials’ decisions regarding an individual’s ejection from a
game or contest are final and binding; no appeals will be
entertained.
Failure to enforce the suspension by allowing the ejected individual to
participate in the subsequent contest results in the automatic
forfeiture of the game or contest in which the de facto suspended
individual participated.
ANY PLAYER ISSUED A RED CARD OR CITED FOR FLAGRANT FOUL,
MISCONDUCT OR UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT AFTER TIME HAS
EXPIRED WILL SERVE A SUSPENSION AS UNDER NORMAL GAME TIME
EJECTIONS. NO EJECTION IS APPEALABLE REGARDLESS OF THE
CONDITION CITED BY THE OFFICIALS TO JUSTIFY THE EXPULSION. THIS
WOULD INCLUDE SERIOUSNESS OF THE FOUL OR MISINTERPRETATION
OF THE RULES.
X. TITLE IX COMPLIANCE
Female student athletes at coed
member schools will be allowed to participate on MIAA sanctioned
interscholastic athletic teams in any sport where a similar team is not
available to them in the same sport. For clarification, a school may
offer a similar team during any of the three seasons (Fall, Winter,
Spring) to fulfill this requirement. As an example, the MIAA plays its
tennis schedule during the Spring. A school offering a female tennis
team during the Fall would preclude participation by female student
athletes on the MIAA team.
A female student athlete who elects to try out for an MIAA team
defined as a “contact” sport by Title IX guidelines will be required to
have a waiver signed by both the student athlete and her
parent/guardian to be eligible for any tryout session, practice or
contest.
XI. MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT ATHLETES
Middle school student
athletes are not able to participate on any high school teams, varsity or
undersquad level. Any member school whose enrolled students
include those in grade 6 through 8 and who field competitive teams in
these grade levels would have the option to be included in sanctioned
competition under the governance of the MIAA Middle School
Competition Committee. A school that elects to come under this
governing body would be required to participate in any sport offered
by that school which would come under the jurisdiction of the
committee.
OUT OF SEASON PRACTICE
First day of Fall practice through May 31st (School Year):
Coaches will be permitted to work with their team outside of the
normal season, during the school year, for no more than three hours
per week up until their seasonal start date. The three hour time period
is voluntary for students and may include; agilities, practices,
individual sessions, open gyms, games or contests during the week.
Weekend club or rec team games/tournaments and weight
training/conditioning activities are not included in this three hour
limitation. The three hour time limit is cumulative for all coaches.
(This includes Spring football) There are no out of season limitations
for the individual sports to include: cross country, golf, squash,
swimming, tennis and track.
Summer Season:
June 1 through August 1 (Fall Sports)
June 1 through the Start of Fall Practice (All other Sports)
Fall teams – Summer begins June 1st and ends August 1st.
During this time coaches can work with student athletes in any
capacity. Workouts must be on a voluntary basis. The use of
protective padding for football, blocking/tackling sleds or similar
apparatus is prohibited and no contact is allowed. Camps are
excluded. From August 1st thru the start date for Fall practices, Fall
sports teams may utilize weight training and conditioning activities
only. Any instruction, drills, scrimmages, station work or any activity
involving equipment for that sport is prohibited.
Winter & Spring Sports teams – Summer begins June 1st and ends
the first day of Fall practice. During this time coaches can work with
student athletes in any capacity. The Fall sports start date signifies the
end of summer and the beginning of the out of season practice
limitations for Winter and Spring teams.
For clarification, a practice is defined as an organized gathering of
student athletes, supervised by a coach or coaches, for the purpose of
preparing for an athletic contest or to decide the numerical make-up
of a team. Athletes participating on an in-season team cannot
participate with another out of season team.
