The NorCal rules are just silly. Don't the coaches just get the kids prior to their freshman year? So, technically there is no transfer at play or the transfer happens before high school. And the rules for determining "athletic motivation" by necessity have to be grey. So, you end up with a kid sitting out games because one program alleges athletic motivation - bet you can find some example of that right now.
Some good questions here. In an attempt to squash a few handful of trolls who seem to respond only to certain posters and subjects, I will put out more factual information. Did I mention the ignore button is GLORIOUS? You can see someone has posted, but you can't see who and what they typed. Amazing!
1. The CIF did change the rules starting 2017-2018 in regards to athletically motivated transfers.
What does this mean? Well, it means you can transfer to your school of choice, pending a few things. You can actually move within district boundaries and be eligible immediately (public). The move can be athletically motivated. Meaning, your family can move into a certain schools area in order to play sports. Cool huh? This is fairly cut and dry for public schools. In CA, this is probably the least consequential type of transfer out of the two.
Private schools make it a bit easier to move around IMO. Private schools have NO ATTENDANCE area. Essentially, that means you can leave a school like Mater Dei because you are mad about playing time, and attend OLU the next season with no sit out period. The only caveat is that you HAVE to have an official change of residence. Meaning, you live in a certain public school attendance area (doesn't matter if you attend) and move to another public school attendance area. A good example of this would be a player at DLS (Private School), who wanted to transfer to Jesuit (Private school) on the basis of playing football. If the player had a valid change of residence from one public school attendance zone, to another (doesn't matter which one), the player could be eligible as a transfer to Jesuit, without a sit out period. Your "move" could be 5 miles away, putting you in another public school attendance zone, therefore making you eligible to make your move to your private school of choice (even if 2 hours away or even more).
Public schools transfers MUST have an official residence change and MUST reside within that school or district boundary for the player to be eligible with no sit out period (6 to 12 months, depending on circumstances, if no residence change is noted).
In my opinion, private school transfers are much easier because you don't have to reside in any certain boundary in order to transfer. You can attend ANY private school as a transfer student as long as you have an official change of residence out of one public school zone and into another (even if not planning to attend those public schools).
The difference between NorCal and SoCal schools in terms of the rules= None.
So why the major difference? Why are certain schools in SoCal LOADED with transfer students, while this is considered a rare practice in NorCal?
My answer is that it is NO COINCIDENCE that Mater Dei won a national title, the FIRST YEAR this rule went into affect. Essentially, SoCal schools are taking advantage of the flood gates opening. SoCal has nearly twice the student population that NorCal does. There is MUCH more turbulence in school turnover, mostly due to competition. Everyone is running around looking for "their shot" and "place to play." They are all chasing the same thing and will pursue it at ANY cost. I am sure you have all heard the stories. AAU, club programs, and camps have a ton to do with this.
Now, does this mean that NorCal doesn't do this? No. They do. But we have def been slow out of the gate! lol
IMHO- North and south are different. The south is a rat race with many kids competing for limited spots. This creates a ripe environment for the things you are seeing down there. The north has a wide variety of schools, ranging from urban, suburban, to completely rural. We have some schools that are similar to the big south schools, but we also have extremely rural schools, where fielding a team is tough some years. North schools tend to be more spread out than south schools, sometimes making transfers more challenging. Most public districts in the north do not have open enrollment anymore, or if they do, it is limited, making it tough to even transfer schools within a school district.
Another obvious answer is fairly simple- Culture. You can see it right on the board. In SoCal, transfers are celebrated and encouraged. In NorCal, transfers are generally frowned upon. Why? I am not sure, you would have to ask everyone on this board. In my personal opinion, I have no problem with limited transfers here and there. No issue at all. But I think what is happening down south, takes away from the overall HSFB experience and enjoyment for many, for the benefit of a few. Does it make a few teams really fun to watch? Sure it does! But does it hurt competition, tradition, brotherhood, sportsmanship, etc.....? Sure does!
Now- without the ability to accept half a team as transfers, would SoCal schools (open div primarily) be dominating NorCal schools? Absolutely not. Historically, they were not dominant. But, it is no coincidence that the first year of this rule produced the result that it did last year. I think this will continue for a while and then things will adjust, as they always do. That is why I am glad they have SBGs at pretty much all levels. Not everyone wants to see schools full of transfers playing against each other. I am sure some do, but it's not for me.
The long answer for- is the playing field level: Yes, it is. But the differences between North and South remain and they shall remain for a very long time. It is up to all of us to decide what is right, what is wrong, and what is best for YOUR kids. The troll answer of "we have the same rules as you!" is uneducated and ingenious IMO.
My advice- put the trolls on ignore. It makes life so much more glorious!
Cheers to a great year fellas!
