The following eligibility rules and guidelines govern our
participation in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association
(MIAA).
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.
II. AGE LIMITATIONS - A student
who has attained his/her 19th birthday before September 1st of
a given academic year is not eligible to participate. A
student who has attained his/her 19th birthday on or after
September 1st 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 given sport at the varsity
level for more than four years and unless he/she is enrolled in
one of the four highest grades of the school.
a) A student may participate at the
varsity level in any given sport only once at each grade level
of education (9th through 12th), regardless of the school at
which such participation took place.
b) A student who has graduated from a
secondary education program, whether 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 a
student's 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 enrolls in two different schools, regardless of their
affiliation to this association, during the course of a single
academic year. If a transfer student participated on an athletic
team in a given sport and season prior to the transfer, that
student may not participate in the same season in the same sport
in this association.
A transfer student, regardless of prior
participation, 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. In the event that a student's
transfer is necessitated by an extensive geographic relocation of
the student's residence, the student's parent/guardian may request
a waiver of these eligibility rules, provided the request be made
in writing to the executive committee and supported by appropriate
documents.
VI. MIGRATION BETWEEN MEMBER SCHOOLS -
A student who
migrates from one member school to another during the period
between academic years is automatically ineligible for a period of
one academic year to participate in the same sports, regardless of
the level of participation, in the new school in which
he/she participated in the previous school.
Waivers of such ineligibility may be requested
in writing to the chief administrator of the previously attended
school by the student's parent/guardian. The chief administrator
is required to respond in writing in a timely manner, with copies
forwarded to the chief administrator of the new school and the
executive director.
VIl. MIGRATION BETWEEN SQUAD LEVELS -
Unless
specifically stipulated otherwise by the sports committee, 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 game at a lower squad level.
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.
VIll. 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
offices, 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 with
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.
c) The association endorses only
need-based financial aid and recommends that assistance to
students be granted only on the basis of demonstrated financial
need. Any member school that awards financial assistance not
based upon determined need to students who participate in
association contests is required annually to submit a disclosure
statement of such assistance, detailing both the recipients and
the amount of aid granted, to the executive director for
inclusion in the annual report of the association.
IX. 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.
X. EJECTION RULE - Any player or coach who
is ejected from a game or contest is automatically suspended from
participation in that team's next scheduled game or contest. The
suspended individual may neither be in uniform or sit on team
benches.
