Friday, January 28, 2000
Archdiocese relaxes eligibility rule
Athletes out of parish can go elsewhere
BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Archdiocese of Cincinnati took a step toward open enrollment for its high schools Thursday when Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk approved a change in the eligibility rule.
Under the new rule, a student “from non-tributary parishes” can attend a high school and be eligible for sports immediately with the approval of the principals of both high schools.
Under the old rule, a student had to sit out a year if he attended a high school for which his parish was not a feeder school.
Eventually, the rule could have a big impact, Roger Bacon Athletic Director Chuck Grosser said.
“I think principals will go along with it (athletes picking different schools),” he said. “I think you'll have a football school, a basketball school and a soccer school.”
The new policy will be implemented beginning with fall sports this year.
In announcing the change, the archdiocese said it wouldn't open the way for recruiting: “Recruitment of students, clearly defined in the Ohio High School Athletic Association, is prohibited. Sanctions will be imposed by the superintendent for any violation.”
“But this makes the rule harder to enforce,” said Tom Nerl, athletic director at Purcell Marian.
Coaches, athletic directors and principals from the Greater Catholic League were weighing the impact of the rule Thursday.
“I think it's going to hurt us and Roger Bacon,” Nerl said. “The smaller schools will get smaller and the big schools will get bigger.”
Moeller High football coach Steve Klonne doesn't expect a great impact.
“Not really,” he said, “Most Catholic schools are operating at maximum level. They aren't going to be able to take on a lot more kids.”
“I'll look at the merits of the case,” said Purcell Marian principal Janis Kennedy Rich. “We really don't know the impact. It would be foolish to speculate because we haven't lived under this policy.”
Moeller was affected when the archdiocese last changed the rule. In 1985, the archdiocese required a student to live within the parish boundary — not merely be a member of the parish — to be eligible to play sports. That hurt Moeller, which used to draw from a wider area. Moeller won the last of its seven state football titles in '85.
Elder football coach Doug Ramsey doesn't expect much effect from the new rule on the West Side.
“If Elder loses a kid, it's to St. Xavier,” he said, “not to the other GCL schools. We're not going to get kids from the other side of town.”
The new rule does not affect St. X, St. Ursula or Ursuline, which are private schools and not limited by parish boundaries.
Grosser agrees that Roger Bacon and Purcell Marian will be affected the most.
“I think it could hurt us in girls sports,” he said. “Some parents would rather send their girls to all-girls schools. So I think we'll lose some girls to McAuley.”
Of the Cincinnati archdiocese high schools, Roger Bacon, Purcell and McNicholas are coed. McAuley, Mercy, Mount Notre Dame and Seton are all-girls schools; Elder, LaSalle and Moeller are all-boys.
Nerl said about a dozen students sat out this year at Purcell under the old rule. Ramsey and Klonne said two or three freshmen didn't play at their schools because of the rule.
“The old rule prevented choice,” Klonne said.
With the new rule, students have a choice if they can get their principal to approve. Under the old rule, the archdiocese determined eligibility.
Cleveland has an open enrollment policy, and its one of the reasons why Cleveland St. Ignatius has won eight big-school football titles since 1988.
“I liked the rule that was used in Cincinnati,” Nerl said. “ ... this is about athletics. If kid wanted to go to another school for any other reason, there wouldn't be a problem.”
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