OSSAA now thinks they’re the NCAA
- Thread starter lawpoke87
- Start date
I guess I should go get my old job back as the Jenks FB recruiter!
In need of a couple more reaction emojis than the six we have.
😢 Followed by the old standby that we already have. 🤣 The crying one will have to be followed by the laughing one to signify indecision about what reaction to have until you give up and have both.
Just makes the payments cheaper. Boosters don’t have to pay for in district housing now.
So the OSSAA rule just brings it in line with state law permitting open transfers of students to districts other than the one they live in. The caveat is the districts can deny the transfer if they don't have open space. Union publishes how many spaces they have per school site. Of the 13 elementary schools, 6/7 Grade Center, 8th grade site, Freshman Academy, and high school, only 2-3 of the elementary schools had spots available. Of course those are the ones that are not in high demand. Union also has an exception that allows family members of an employee to attend the ES of choice if there is space in that one. This one usually takes up any available spaces in the district. I believe Union did not accept any out of district transfers due to this law the first two years it was on the books. I wouldn't expect many of these urban districts to have many of these types of transfers at all. I would also think that the 3 voted against it out of fear it might erode some of the depth they enjoy. Kids who aren't starters at any of those 3 might look at BA as an option (well not really until they get rid of JB and get a coach with an actual plan).
But yeah, OSSAA is just aligning with the state law because while a student could transfer to any school they wanted, if they played a sport they weren't necessarily going to be eligible b/c OSSAA still had more stringent rules about that.
This lines up to what a head coach of the Big 5 told me last night. They simply don’t have space to take transfers. He also worries about sophomores and juniors who are playing behind a senior not having the patience to wait their turn. Instead those kids will transfer to a school where they can start immediately. He believes this rule will ultimately hurt the large suburban Tulsa schools. Guess we will see.
Yeah, it will hurt the depth of the programs for sure. Look at Union...you had a FR QB play half the season b/c the JR starter had an injury and by all accounts, he played pretty well. In the new world order of things, maybe he decides to transfer to BA or Jenks because he knows their QB situations are unstable at best because he doesn't want to sit another year behind Reisig. I don't think it will really impact Union, Jenks, and Bixby. I think where it might be seen is some of the 5A and 4A schools that border on larger 6A districts. Places like Skiatook and Collinsville, Sperry where you've got a player who might be able to start at an Owasso. I do think you might see some intra-district transfers in places like Norman, Moore, and Edmond where they can consolidate the best football athletes into a single school with this.
Schools with space and decent athletic programs could really benefit here. Think about school “A” who has two really good basketball players. His two elite AAU teammates play at school “B” and “C”. They all get together and decide to play at one school and win a state championship. You’re going to see quite a bit of this imo.
I know someone in the OSSAA office and he said they polled the membership, who as a majority approved. Second, stated that if they took no steps in this direction that the folks on 23rd street would legislate it for them. It’s not great, but I’d rather the OSSAA membership and board put something in place versus those idiots at the capitol.
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I don't see this affecting my alma mater, to be honest. A lot of donations have made us a premier program in 4A. If and when the refinery and the treatment plant for the old Kerr-McGee/Jayhawk nuclear site go up more money is expected to be pumped in in time for the inevitable move to 5A.
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