06/10/2025
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BSN HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS: GEORGIA CRACKS DOWN ON TRANSFERS ā COULD FLORIDA FOLLOW SUIT ?
By: Alan Zlotorzynski
In a move making waves across the high school sports landscape in the Southeast, the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) is taking a bold step to clamp down on student-athlete transfers.
According to a report published Tuesday by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia is revising its bylaws to make any athlete who transfers multiple times after ninth grade ineligible for one year.
Additionally, all incoming transfers will be required to provide strict documentation such as driverās licenses, utility bills, and lease agreements to begin the process of having their move considered a bona fide one.
However, GHSA officials made it clear: providing these documents does not guarantee approval. Rather, the paperwork is the starting point in a process that ultimately rests with the boardās discretion.
While parents and guardians often find ways around transfer requirements, this move signals Georgiaās intent to address what it sees as a growing issueāone it believes is fracturing high school athletics.
The overhaul of GHSA Bylaw 1.60 was approved by all but one of the organizationās 13 Board of Trustees.
Among the revisions is language stating that moving within the same service area does not qualify as a legitimate relocation.
Furthermore, families must remain in the new residence for at least one full year, or risk their student-athlete being ruled ineligible.
Itās a direct attempt to curb the rising trend of athlete mobility.
And now, the change raises a pressing question for Floridaāparticularly in counties like Brevard, where transferring between schools has become more than just a trend. Itās become a way of life.
Will the Sunshine State ever consider following Georgiaās lead?
If it does, thereās one major difference to overcome: In Florida, any change must come through the Legislature.
FLORIDAāS TRANSFER ERA BEGAN IN 2016
Unlike Georgia, where the high school athletic association is leading the change on transferring, Floridaās transfer policies stem directly from state law.
In 2016, the Florida Legislature passed House Bill 7029, which took effect on July 1 of that year. The bill was introduced to give families more educational options, increase public school accountability, and promote fairer accessānot specifically to change athletic eligibility or so it was said.
But one of its most visible side effects was indeed the reshaping of high school athletics, ushering in Floridaās open transfer eraāwhat many now call the āhigh school portal.ā
The law allowed statewide open enrollment, enabling students to transfer to any school with available capacity.
Under FHSAA interpretation, student-athletes became immediately eligible at their new school, as long as they hadnāt already participated in the same sport elsewhere that season.
Before HB 7029, student-athletes who transferred without a documented hardship were generally required to sit out a full year but that all changed overnight.
While the FHSAA is bound by this law and cannot impose stricter eligibility rules, it does maintain the authority to penalize programs for recruiting violations, which are prohibited under all circumstances.
Last fall three major Florida football programs were hit with FHSAA sanctions:
The First Academy (Orlando) faced the harshest punishmentāforfeiting all wins and being forced to return its district title to Melbourne Central Catholic after the FHSAA found extensive recruiting violations.
Booker High Schoolās head coach was suspended for six games and fined $5,000 after improper contact with a player from another school and Miami Central , while self-reporting the use of an ineligible fifth-year player was subsequently forced to forfeit all nine games it played during the season.
These cases highlight a growing need for oversightānot just of where student-athletes are going, but why theyāre going.
TRANSFER SEASON ā OR āPORTAL TIMEā?
While the original intent of House Bill 7029 was to empower families and expand opportunity, its unintended consequencesāparticularly in counties like Brevardāhave become impossible to ignore.
If a transfer is truly about education, then GPA standards and academic fit should come into play. No child should be denied a better education simply because their zoned school canāt meet their needs.
But letās be honestāmany student-athletes arenāt transferring for education.
Theyāre transferring because they believe their current situation wonāt help them get to the next level, and with college scholarships and NIL deals now in the mix, thatās not a selfish mindsetāitās a strategic one and itās a choice weāve heard many-many people wish they had when they were in school.
Before the 2020ā21 school year, transfers happened occasionally. But in the post-COVID eraācombined with penalty-free NCAA transfers and the rise of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL)āhigh school athletes began asking a new question:
āWhich school gives me the best chance at an athletic future?ā
In Brevard, the post-spring migration has become so routine that many now refer to it as āportal time,ā echoing the chaos of the college transfer portal.
The fallout? Once-dominant programs are often left depleted, while powerhouse programs get even stronger in a specific sport.
Itās no longer just a student athlete moving from Rockledge to Cocoa or Titusville to Astronaut or vice versa, itās not uncommon for student-athletes to move from the West Coast to the East Coast of Floridaāor from South Florida to Central Floridaāall in search of better exposure and opportunity.
Some players have transferred three or four times in four years, creating revolving-door rosters that leave coaches, ADs, and fans scrambling.
In some cases, athletes have played football at one school, then competed in a different sport at anotherāall within the same academic year.
The result is a fractured high school sports ecosystemāone where parity suffers, team cultures dissolve, and community pride fades.
This is not just me being the older man screaming get off of my lawn, you canāt play ball there. If you want further proof just scroll social media on any given day. The frustration is loudāand growing.
QUESTIONS THAT DESERVE ANSWERS
So what do we do?
Itās absolutely fair to ask: Should student-athletes be able to transfer to the program that best prepares themāathletically, academically, or even financially?
The answer is yes they should be allowed to transfer in this day and age and transferring for athletic purposes only should be OK too given what could be at stake.
But hereās the follow-up question:
How many times should they be allowed to make that decision in four years? And is there a middle groundāone that respects the athleteās right to choose, but also preserves team integrity, tradition, and community pride?
Well, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you feel about this topic any change to Bill 7029 is up to the Florida Lawmakers in Tallahassee. If youāre against it, donāt hold your breath waiting for them to take this issue up.
COULD FLORIDA TIGHTEN THE RULES?
Georgia and Florida may be neighboring states, but when it comes to high school athletics, Georgia often acts first.
It was the first to allow NIL rights for high school athletes. Now, itās taken the first meaningful swing at regulating transfers.
With Georgia now making headlines for its crackdown, all eyes are shifting to Floridaās leadershipāthe FHSAA in Gainesville, and of course, the state Legislature in Tallahassee.
But unlike Georgiaās GHSA, Floridaās FHSAA canāt act alone. Any meaningful change to the stateās transfer policy must come through a legislative amendment to House Bill 7029.
Will Florida address the issues brought on by open transfers? Or will it take a pass and not make any amendments to Bill 7029 ?
And hereās a twist: If Georgia clamps down too hard, could their best players start transferring to Florida?
That would be ironic, wouldnāt it?
Florida has already lost many of its best coaches to Georgia, where schools offer better pay. Now, some of those Georgia coaches could lose their best players back to Floridaābecause of open enrollment.
We see a lot of out of state transfers in Brevard given the Space Program and Space Force Base but could we also see an influx from Georgia ?
I donāt think we need to get into how much or what a lot of parents are willing to do to help their child succeed.
For many stand out student athletes their parents will want them to have a choice of playing for a program who can give them the opportunity for a much better financial future given their set of athletic skills.
This question can only be answered over time. But in the meantimeāthe portal is open.
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