Going into a new High School football season always brings new things like jerseys, fields, and rules. Starting the off-season leading into 2025, IHSAA introduced a new set of eligibility rules stating, “Students whose first transfer is from IHSAA member school to IHSAA member school, will maintain full eligibility if it occurs during their first six semesters of High School,” IHSAA. 

These rules open a new door for underclassmen, giving them opportunities to play for a different team without losing a year of their high school eligibility. This rule also benefits athletes in the way that it gives them opportunities to experience different teams and different styles of practice without losing a year. Adding this rule also means that players could transfer from year to year and try out for different teams or different positions in their sport. Finally, it gives athletes who are forced to move between IHSAA schools another year to play their sport. 

Some might argue it doesn’t give the athlete enough time to prepare and bond with their team, meaning in games, they won’t have any chemistry to be able to successfully and actively work together to win games. 

Another counter-argument for this is that the athlete would be attending an entirely  different school, meeting new hallways, teachers, and other kids that attend that school. People believe it doesn’t give the student-athlete enough time to get control of the academic side of their high school career. Thus, they don’t get to play to their full potential. 

However, we can give the student-athletes the whole summer with the team to build chemistry and trust throughout their relationships. Coaches can set up workouts, practices, and other activities to build bonding time for their team to be successful by the beginning of the season. 

Another reason is that coaches shouldn’t be able to have full control over how the athletes do. For example, a student who wanted to transfer for a sport was released by one coach, but the coach and the school that he was leaving held him from doing that. Due to this new rule, schools  can’t do that, which opens doors for a lot of student-athletes with big dreams.

In conclusion, we agree with the rule IHSAA has redone in their rulebook. It gives student-athletes new opportunities to compete with different levels of talent, different styles, and many other benefits. This new rule opens many, many doors such as building new bonds with new people and coaches, as well as other possible outside connections such as college scouts.