Eligibility - Scholarship Rule

a. All contestants are to be enrolled and in good standing in a school that is a member or associate member in good standing of the organization sponsoring the event.

b. All contestants who have attained the age of 20 years old are not eligible.

c. All contestants will receive credit in at least four subjects, each of one period or “hour” or the equivalent thereof, at all times. To qualify under this rule, a “subject” will meet the requirements of 281—Chapter 12. Coursework taken from a postsecondary institution and for which a school district or accredited nonpublic school grants academic credit toward high school graduation is used in determining eligibility. No student is to be denied eligibility if the student’s school program deviates from the traditional two-semester school year. (1) Each contestant shall be passing all coursework for which credit is given and making adequate progress toward graduation requirements at the end of each grading period. Grading period, graduation requirements, and any interim periods of ineligibility are determined by local policy. For purposes of this subrule, “grading period” means the period of time at the end of which a student in grades 9 through 12 receives a final grade and course credit is awarded for passing grades. (2) If at the end of any grading period a contestant is given a failing grade in any course for which credit is awarded, the contestant is ineligible to dress for and compete in the next occurring interscholastic athletic contests and competitions in which the contestant is a contestant for 20 consecutive calendar days, unless the student has already served a period of ineligibility for 20 consecutive calendar days in another school-sponsored activity. A student will not serve multiple periods of ineligibility because of a failing grade.

d. A student with a disability who has an individualized education program will not be denied eligibility on the basis of scholarship if the student is making adequate progress, as determined by school officials, toward the goals on the student’s individualized education program, unless the course in which the student receives a failing grade has no relationship to those goals.

e. A student who meets all other qualifications may be eligible to participate in interscholastic athletics for a maximum 36 of eight consecutive semesters upon entering the ninth grade for the first time. However, a student who engages in athletics during the summer following eighth grade is also eligible to compete during the summer following twelfth grade. Extenuating circumstances, such as health, may be the basis for an appeal to the executive board that may extend the eligibility of a student when the executive board finds that the interests of the student and interscholastic athletics will be benefited.

f. All member schools will provide appropriate interventions and necessary academic supports for students who fail or who are at risk to fail.

g. A student is academically eligible upon entering the ninth grade.

h. A student is not eligible to participate in an interscholastic sport if the student has, in that same sport, participated in a contest with or against, or trained with, a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), or other collegiate governing organization’s sanctioned team. A student may not participate with or against high school graduates if the graduates represent a collegiate institution or if the event is sanctioned or sponsored by a collegiate institution. Nothing in this subrule precludes a student from participating in a one-time tryout with or against members of a college team with permission from the member school’s administration and the respective collegiate institution’s athletic administration.

i. No student is eligible to participate in any given interscholastic sport if the student has engaged in that sport professionally.

j. The local superintendent of schools, with the approval of the local board of education, may give permission to a dropout student to participate in athletics upon return to school if the student is otherwise eligible under these rules.

k. Remediation of a failing grade by way of summer school or other means does not affect the student’s ineligibility. All failing grades will be reported to any school to which the student transfers.