The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 88

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREVIEW THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER GS WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2004 Transfers KHSAA keeps eye on athletes switching schools Gil uJiH mm mi By Ryan Ernst Enquirer staff writer harlene Gillespie's modest two-story Covington home is draped in family framed photos, mementos, albums. She moved there 30 years ago with her late husband, Robert, and their four children. Since then it has been Permission to play: Mike Mitchell (left) and Michael Stowers both were cleared to take to the field for Highlands, but both say transferring hasn't been easy. liliiiSwJ kit iiOi-t-J Any student who has been enrolled in grades 9 through 12 at a school and has participated in a varsity game at that school and then transfers must sit out one year unless that student is granted a waiver by the KHSAA. A student can be granted a waiver for the following reasons: Bona fide change in residence.

To be considered "bona fide," the change in residence must meet certain criteria. For example, the change in residence must occur before the change in schools and must not be motivated by athletics. Parental divorce. Guardianshipchange in custody. Parental death.

Transfer to a boarding school. Academic concerns. A student who transfers because his or her former school is considered "in crisis" by the state board of education can be granted a waiver. Reassignment. For example, schools closing, opening or merging.

Transfer from a non-member school. TRANSFER TALI! Student-athletes change schools more now than they did even 10 years ago, but why? Some area coaches have a few ideas. home to grandchildren and neighborhood children, but only one remains. "Wesley!" she yells upstairs to her grandson. As the powerfully built teenager rumbles down the stairs, she says, "He didn't know what to do with himself all summer without football." Then she pleads the boy's case.

She talks about how Wesley Collins, her daughter's son, came to live with her and her husband as a baby. How he's one of 12 children to his parents. How four half-brothers on Wesley's mother's side and another on his father's side have been incarcerated. And how she saw football as his way out. But for the last seven months, the jtwiW I 117 'f Photos by JOSEPH FUQUA 11 The Enquirer i 1 Kentucky High School Athletic Association has been in charge of his way out.

Collins is among an increasing number of student-athletes in Northern Kentucky transferring to other schools. And as some of the top football players in the area found out this summer, the process of switching schools while keeping one's athletic eligibility can seem Ion- 1 ger than two-a-days in August A roller coaster Just ask Mike Mitchell. While he should have been in team meetings and weight rooms, he was spending time in hearings and courtrooms. "It's been a rough summer," he said. After transferring from Covington Catholic to Highlands in January, he has heard the talk that he's a traitor, that he was recruited.

"It wasn't even my choice," Mitchell said. "It was my parents'." Highlands coach Dale Mueller knows why people don't want to believe Mitchell's story: because the defensive back is a Division I talent who will help the Highlands football team. And it has happened in Fort Thomas before. "To be honest, I'm not going to sit here and say that really good football players don't transfer to Highlands," Mueller said. "Because we have had great football players transfer here.

People say, Why don't the rules apply to Highlands? We have to follow the But the KHSAA does a great job researching cases and making sure everything is done right and making sure the rules apply to everyone." In Mitchell's case, that took six months. During that time, he was told he would not be eligible, then told he should be eligible, told again he wouldn't be, and finally told a week and a half ago he was cleared to take the field. The Mitchells say they moved from Florence to Fort Thomas to get into an apartment or a condominium. Mike's mom, Marchell, had gone through knee surgery Musical chairs times," Stowers said. "I think they look overall and look at (transferring) as a conspiracy." No way Transfers are daily fodder for town gossip and Internet chat rooms.

"I could fill an entire notebook up with all the hearsay about Chas going to Beechwood," Jim Moore said about his son. Chas Moore, whose transfer case is pending, was Bellevue's starting quarterback last year as a sophomore. His next hearing is scheduled for Sept 8, the fourth week of the season. Moore transferred to Beech-wood in the offseason when his family moved to Fort Mitchell. Since the case is incomplete, the KHSAA will not release any records.

But that hasn't stopped the speculation about why he transferred. That's why even though Moore is enrolled at Beechwood, football coach Mike Yeagle won't let him near the team. "He came up here one day, the very first day of July practice after the dead period, and I sent him home," Yeagle said. "Not until I get clearance from the state. I honestly didn't know Chas Moore from Adam, never spoke to him in my life.

And if he's not eligible, we're not going to do anything to harm our program." Somewhere Wesley Collins knows the feeling. He spent the summer affiliated with three football programs but accepted by none. After transferring from Covington Catholic in January, the running back tried to get a transfer waiver that would have made him eligible at Boone County. He went through the commissioner's initial ruling and two appeals, to no avail. Collins said he was on a work-study scholarship program at CovCath that took care of his tuition.

But when his grades started to slip and he needed a tutor, he had to drop the work-study program. Without the tuition assistance, he decided to transfer. Although he lives in the Covington Public School System, Collins moved in with his uncle, who became his legal guardian, and enrolled at Boone County. Collins said he had attended Holmes in junior high but hadn't done well academically. The KHSAA ruled the change in residence was not "bona fide" and denied him.

Finally, during the first week of August, Collins transferred to Holmes. As of press time, he had heard nothing from the KHSAA on his latest transfer. Said Collins: "I'm just hoping they end up letting me play somewhere." E-mail rernstenquirer.com and needed a place without so many steps. His parents also testified they were tired of paying Mike's tuition at CovCath only to see his grades They applied for a transfer waiver from the KHSAA. Then they waited more than two months before the first denial.

"If they would have looked at the thing and denied me in two weeks, I would have said, 'OK, this is Mitchell said. "But it made me confused. Why me?" Eventually, the case went to the Campbell County Circuit Court, where Mitchell was granted an injunction to stop the ruling. The following day, he was on the practice field at Highlands, letting out a summer's worth of aggression screaming, making plays, celebrating. "He's like a 5-year-old with Christmas presents," Mueller said.

Still, even after the high he got from playing again, Mitchell said he would advise a teammate against transferring. "Try to talk your parents out of it," he said. "Don't do it Because the way they're cracking down now, wow. Be ready for the long haul. Be ready to cry.

Be ready to be happy. If a roller coaster. Fresh start While Mitchell sat out the first scrimmage of his Highlands ca Michael Stowers case Jan. 5: Transfers from CovCath to Highlands, citing a new residence with his aunt. March 2: Applies for a waiver.

March 2: DeVries denies him a waiver because "none of the permitted exceptions contained in Bylaw 6 have been satisfied." May 6: Hearing officer Ann M. Sheadel recommends the board "issue a final order that grants Michael Stowers', appeal, reverses the Commissioner's decision and restores Michael Stowers' eligibility." July 16: Board rules him eligible. CINCINNATI LAI I L. n.J. OHIO yUfcsSv Jilt 4 Most waiver requests get KHSAA approval Transferring from one school to another can be a long journey through the KHSAA and sometimes the court systerti.

Mike Mitchell left Covington Catholic for Highlands, as did Michael Stowers, Wesley Collins left CovCath for Boone and then Holmes, He has been ruled ineligible. A fourth, Chas Moore, left Belleyue for Beechwood. His case Is still pending, with the next hearing set for Sept. 8. reer, a 10-on-10 format at Beech-wood, fellow transfer Michael Stowers made a splash in his Bluebirds debut.

The senior wide receiverlinebacker made the hit of the game on a blind-side sack, then turned a 5-yard pass route into a 50-yard touchdown run. He also had transferred from CovCath, in, January. And although he was granted a transfer waiver without going to court, he says the transition to a new school has been hard on him. "It was a real tough decision," he said. "I regret it some days; some days I don't But I was going through some bad times in my life, and I just felt like I needed a fresh start." Stowers, who Mueller also considers a Division I talent had been living with his aunt and cousin (Highlands teammate Nick Sheffield, also a transfer from CovCath) for more than six months when the KHSAA ruled him eligible in July.

Stowers testified that since the move to Highlands, his grades have improved significantly. He also has gained a reputation on the football field as one of Northern Kentucky's best playmakers. Stowers said although he appreciates the KHSAA considering all the points in his case, he just hopes it continues to do so with other cflscs "I just don't think (the KHSAA) takes each case separately some Mike Mitchell case jmu ransierstrom CovCath to Highlands, citing Mitchell's dropping grades and his parents' desire to move into a condominium or apartment Feb. 9: Applies for a waiver. April 12: DeVries denies him a waiver because "none1 of the permitted exceptions contained In Bylaw 6 have been satisfied." May 3: Karem recommends "that the appeal be granted; that the decision of the Commissioner be overturned; and that Michael Mitchell Is declared Immediately eligible." July 16: The board denies his appeal, ruling "Michael did not present sufficient evidence to conclude that his transfer satisfied the 'bona ride change In residence' exception." Aug.

10: Campbell County Circuit Court grants an Ininnntlnn tn nuprtiirn th(J Cn A Wit Th8 Enquirer RANDY MAZZ0U rjiiniiiif-IICniinrv "There's so much now of kids intermingling in the summer on the baseball teams and basketball teams. When I went to high school, Newport Catholic was my whole world. Now these kids are buddies with people at Campbell County and people at Newport. And that's a good thing. But it sure doesn't deter you from moving around.

Bob Schneider, Newport Central Catholic 1, I "By certain people, the loyalty is to the sport or what's best for them. Not to the school or to academics. And if they tell you academics, they're lying. Lynn Ray, Covington Catholic mm M.J "It reflects what they see on TV. It's, Tm a free agent, man.

Rick Thompson, Boone County V1 4' tion is to file a lawsuit. "But I wouldn't say thafs that common," said Ted Martin, an attorney, for Greenebaum Doll McDonald, which represents the KHSAA "In any given year, out of the 1,000 cases, I'd say there are only 10 to 15 lawsuits." But those cases that get into the court system can become messy. -The bylaw is intended to keep students from transferring for athletic reasons, but as Martin said, nearly impossible to judge a student's true intent." That's where a precedent from 1977 comes into play. In Kentucky High School Athletic Association v. Hopkins County Board of Education, the court ruled that the KHSAA is not obligated to grant a waiver simply because a student claims a transfer is for non-athletic reasons.

The case since has been cited in decisions throughout the country. Still, few deny that students still transfer for athletic reasons even in Kentucky. "I don't think that's any revelation," DeVries said, She said her organization plays the hand it is dealt, referring to By- 1 xf law o. people think the bylaw can be improved, they should speak up. "I operate at the pleasure of the Wesley Collins case Jan.

7: Transfers from CovCath to Boone County to Holmes, citina .3 academic difficulty and the school's high tuition. Feb. 20: Applies for a waiver. Feb. 23: KHSAA commissioner Brigid DeVries denies him a waiver because "none of the permitted exceptions contained In Bylaw 6 have been satisfied," April 2: Hearing officer Edmund Karem recommends that the board denies his appeal.

July 16: The KHSAA Board of Control upholds Karem's decision. In the case's "final order, effective Immediately," the board rules him Ineligible. IJIVIIIKlllll Boone Cosily I Boone Count H.S 42 i if By Ryan Ernst Enquirer staff writer Every year, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association handles about 1,000 cases of students wishing to transfer without losing sports eligibility. Though few doubt the number of transfers has increased, many argue about what, if anything, the KHSAA should do to curb the moves. The association's current process is a system of decisions and appeals that can last anywhere from a day to a year.

It starts with Bylaw 6, which states a student-athlete who transfers after playing a varsity game must sit out a full year, unless he or she is granted a waiver. The waiver process begins when both schools submit transfer forms to the KHSAA The association's commissioner, Brigid DeVries, then makes an initial ruling on whether the student will receive a waiver. If she rules in the student's favor, eligibility is immediately granted. "Most students are ruled eligible," DeVries said. Only a small percentage don get the waiver.

But if the waiver is denied, stu dents can appeal the decision to an independent hearing officer, usual ly Edmund P. Karem, a Louisville attorney. At this hearing, students can present their cases. The officer then will make a recommendation to the KHSAA Board of Control, which either accepts or rejects it. If a student is denied the waiver again, his or her last course of ac WJ Beechwood H.S.

I Holmes H.S. 1 iii "ii 1 1 i 'fJJv, ') memoer schools," she said. "They make the regulations, and they're pretty tight. They like them tight-But if member schools don't like the regulations, I encourage them to take the necessary steps to change them." E-mail rernstenquirer.com VrUTi.v KENTUCKY 251 mm mmi Aii A i..