HHSAA to adopt more stringent transfer rule
Yes, they honor their grandfather.
At least potential transfers do. One of the sidebars out of Monday's Hawaii High School Athletic Association executive board meeting was the new statewide transfer rule.
The board confirmed that the new rule, which strictly forbids a student-athlete from remaining eligible for the same sports after a second transfer, goes into effect July 1. A case in point was presented by the Big Island Interscholastic Federation. A student-athlete at Makua Lani, a small private school in Kona, had transferred to Kealakehe.
However, the student now plans to return to Makua Lani. He would be eligible to play sports at Makua Lani only if he transfers after July 1, when the new rule takes effect. If he transfers before then, the previous transfer rule -- operated by the BIIF -- would prohibit him from playing the same sports because of the second transfer. In other words, student-athletes who have already transferred will be grandfathered in.
"He's not violating the spirit of the (new) rule," HHSAA executive director Keith Amemiya said.
BIIF executive director Ken Yamase also noted that the student will be returning to his "home," or previous school. That's a big difference from situations in the past when athletes hopped from one school to another -- which was the case in the Maui Interscholastic League a few years ago.
The complexities of transferring, along with an abundance of manipulation of loopholes, stirred plenty of controversy over the years. The implementation of a statewide rule simplifies the process in theory, but the MIL -- which had developed its own set of stringent standards -- was not happy when the HHSAA board passed the rule April 15.
One key transfer is already official. Girls basketball standout Kanisha Bello of Kamehameha-Hawaii has enrolled at Waiakea for her senior season. KS-Hawaii plays basketball in Division II. Waiakea is a D-I program. Both teams qualified for state tournaments last season.