SCVAL board denies motion to alter winter sports regulations following player ineligibility

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Old but relevant for all current Elite Level programs in SCVAL. Does this rule, specifically Rule 600 need to change?

January 19, 2023
palyvoice.com

Breaking: SCVAL board denies motion to alter winter sports regulations following player ineligibility - The Paly Voice

During a Santa Clara Valley Athletic League board meeting this morning, members voted against Principal Brent Kline’s motion to alter the SCVAL regulations regarding outside competition, which is currently prohibiting nine Palo Alto High School girls’ soccer players from participating...
palyvoice.com

Implemented in 2012, the California Interscholastic Federation’s Rule 600 limits student-athletes from participating in club team sports while on a school team after the season has started. For winter sports, such as soccer, athletes participating in a club sports event after Thanksgiving Break are forced to forfeit two games for every game played in the event. If they violate the rule for a second time by attending another club event, they will be unable to play for 365 days.

However, SCVAL’s regulations state if a winter sports player participates in an outside school event only one time after the Monday after Thanksgiving Break, they will not be able to play on the team for the rest of the season, rather than only after the second offense in the CCS rules.
 
under CIF rules you can play non-HS games UNTIL you play your first HS game, then 600 comes into play. That can be whenever. Section rules may differ (eg, the Thanksgiving rule - I’ve not heard of that).

My older daughter played in NCS and we made sure to comply with 600 and any NCS rules as well so she did not have to lose eligibility to play with USYNT. It’s not easy, though, and you have to be vigilant.

Anything posted here is presumptively ok if you follow the other rules on notice to the school, etc.https://www.cifstate.org/governance/odp. But for YNT opportunities, it depends on US Soccer notifying NFHS and NFHS notifying CIF and CIF posting the event. USYS is very good about ODP events.

it’s been some years now but I can remember talking to “powers that be” and they weren’t so sympathetic to the athlete and felt like if the athlete became ineligible, it opened a spot for another. The idea of a rising tide lifting all boats was not really embraced. (Fortunately, it always worked out for my kid)
 
Wild story. Such a shame. Are there other stories like this, where Rule 600 (or spin-offs like the SCVAL rule) destroy entire high school teams for entire seasons? Ruining one senior's final season is brutal enough, but ruining nine at the same time. Wow.
 
I think it is a terrible rule especially when most of the nation plays soccer in the fall (I think) and it is fall college sport. Because of that the college showcases take place between the middle of November to beginning of December when a majority of the college seasons are over and the coaches can take on the added duty of recruiting.
It doesn't really help anyone, removing it would obviously help the rich stay rich, but it also affects many other schools where a majority of the families don't have access to high level club and the ones that play high level club and want/need to be seen by college coaches have to choose one over the other and Club wins and HS loses.

That being said -- this isn't a new rule and missing a couple of HS games before club season is over isn't generally the end of the world; the players are back for league games or big games before the holiday break.
If you break the rule and get caught that is definitely on the players and their families and the coaches!

Rule not made in the interest of the student athlete at all!
 
youthsportsugh said:
I think it is a terrible rule especially when most of the nation plays soccer in the fall (I think) and it is fall college sport. Because of that the college showcases take place between the middle of November to beginning of December when a majority of the college seasons are over and the coaches can take on the added duty of recruiting.
It doesn't really help anyone, removing it would obviously help the rich stay rich, but it also affects many other schools where a majority of the families don't have access to high level club and the ones that play high level club and want/need to be seen by college coaches have to choose one over the other and Club wins and HS loses.

That being said -- this isn't a new rule and missing a couple of HS games before club season is over isn't generally the end of the world; the players are back for league games or big games before the holiday break.
If you break the rule and get caught that is definitely on the players and their families and the coaches!

Rule not made in the interest of the student athlete at all!
Click to expand...

when I've looked in the past, NFHS published that about 5 or 6 states play in the Winter and the remainder (and DC) are split pretty evenly between Fall and Spring.

I understand and support one aspect of the rule - kids should not be playing on multiple teams and overloading games and practices even for a 3 or 4 month stretch. No idea how many - or even if - other states have a rule similar to 600 but over-training and overuse are real concerns and directly contribute to injuries like ACL tears. I do think there should be more flexibility during the crossover point and I do think that some of the invited participation opportunities - like ODP, PDP (up here in NorCal) or YNTs should be automatically exempt (provided players do proper rest pre- and post-camp or competition) (oh, the fight I once got into w/an administrator (I don't remember whether it was at the section or state level) about YNTs and their relationship with soccer generally and ODP/PDP specifically was akin to slamming my head against a wall).

Also, coaches - club and HS alike - also need to recognize that THESE ARE KIDS and the decision to represent their school should be that of the kid and her/his parents. They are not pros. Their skills don't completely erode by playing HS (otherwise, nobody could ever return from major (or even some minor) injury). And as good as so many think their kids are - and the smoke that coaches like to blow up parents' asses - most won't play professionally, most won't play at the highest (or even any) college level for 4 years but ALL will have a brief window of HS. I know some great kids/families (with the kids being excellent players) who made the decision NOT to play and I can look at a TON of players currently in the NCAA tournament who did play HS.
 
youthsportsugh said:
I think it is a terrible rule especially when most of the nation plays soccer in the fall (I think) and it is fall college sport. Because of that the college showcases take place between the middle of November to beginning of December when a majority of the college seasons are over and the coaches can take on the added duty of recruiting.
It doesn't really help anyone, removing it would obviously help the rich stay rich, but it also affects many other schools where a majority of the families don't have access to high level club and the ones that play high level club and want/need to be seen by college coaches have to choose one over the other and Club wins and HS loses.

That being said -- this isn't a new rule and missing a couple of HS games before club season is over isn't generally the end of the world; the players are back for league games or big games before the holiday break.
If you break the rule and get caught that is definitely on the players and their families and the coaches!

Rule not made in the interest of the student athlete at all!
Click to expand...
If I read the rule right, any kid in SCVAL who plays in a club event after Thanksgiving must miss the whole season, not just a couple of games.

This means the GA kids who go to their showcase (12/4) have to skip HS soccer entirely, but ECNL kids who went to their showcase (11/12) can play every HS game.

That's just wrong.
 
Zeke said:
If I read the rule right, any kid in SCVAL who plays in a club event after Thanksgiving must miss the whole season, not just a couple of games.

This means the GA kids who go to their showcase (12/4) have to skip HS soccer entirely, but ECNL kids who went to their showcase (11/12) can play every HS game.

That's just wrong.
Click to expand...
Don't worry - it's fair across all leagues. ECNL has a Tennessee Showcase 12/3 weekend also.
 
What's odd is that Thanksgiving point of reference is a section-level rule and more restrictive than the state rule. The state rule defines the "season" as the first HS "contest" played by a student-athlete until the last contest played by that athlete - so it's in reference to the KID, not the school or calendar. In NCS (where I am), players who play a 12/3 showcase can still play the vast majority of the HS season (possibly missing a couple of non-league games). Schools out here that have heavy-ECNL rosters (in the East Bay Athletic League, for example) will not schedule games until 12/5 or after (my kids' school is less impacted so they start games on 11/30).

Not sure if the original article cites to Paly's history with being DQ'd but there was a well-known situation some years ago involving Jacey Pederson and her call up into YNT camp. If memory serves, she and the school did everything they were aware of to get permission but someone (maybe it was US Soccer) missed a critical deadline. She was part of a really good freshman class and Paly made the CCS playoffs for the first time in a while. I think between game 1 and 2 of the CCS playoffs, someone dropped a dime and Paly was DQ'd. It was a really unfortunate situation and absolutely not the fault of the player.
 
Zeke said:
If I read the rule right, any kid in SCVAL who plays in a club event after Thanksgiving must miss the whole season, not just a couple of games.

This means the GA kids who go to their showcase (12/4) have to skip HS soccer entirely, but ECNL kids who went to their showcase (11/12) can play every HS game.

That's just wrong.
Click to expand...
Glad my kids weren't/aren't in SCVAL :) ! I wasn't following completely as our league does follow CIF 600 and bylaw 504, which allows for playing for HS after a showcase if you hadn't played HS games before showcase/event.

Absolutely wrong! Who actually benefits in SCVAL from this rule and what is the actual rationale of the 7 folks that voted for this rule
 
sockma said:
For the same reason they would go to the AZ showcase - college scholarships are being handed out like Halloween Candy
Click to expand...
None of the teams near SCVAL actually go it the TN event. It affects no one.

The better question is where you think the Paly/PASC kids were supposed to go to get exposure.
 
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