Question on eligibility

[sprinter14]

I need to hear from some people who know their OHSAA Jr High rules.

Our girls Junior High team is having a rough season. Twice we have had very close games, but lost them both. In both cases, we found out that the opponents had some of their 8th graders playing in the 7th grade game. In the first case, we didn't complain much because there were only two 8th graders who played against us and they weren't much of a factor. But last night, we had at a minimum of SEVEN 8th grade girls play against our 7th graders. The 8th graders scored 10 points for the opponent, and we lost by 9.

Now I know a kid can play up. But I have always been under the impression that you cannot play DOWN. It is called "7th grade basketball" and "8th grade basketball" NOT Junior High Basketball. Our coach is even confused by this. I looked on the OHSAA website but had no luck.

Does anyone know for sure what the rule is and where I can find a formal copy of it???? If this is legal, we plan to make some changes in the line-up for the last few games.

Thanks in advance for any help..............

[favabeans]

Did the 8th graders who played in the 7th grade game go on to play in the 8th grade game? Did they play down because of the lack of numbers for the 7th grade team? In the past we have had 8th graders move down because of low numbers but they did not play in the 8th grade game. And you usually move the weaker 8th graders down, not the stronger ones.

Even if they play both games, they are only allowed 5 quarters.

[socfan]

Also as a rule, if a player moves up (from 7th to 8th grade) then they cannot move back down to 7th grade. Once they move from the 7th grade team to the 8th grade they must stay at that level for the rest of the season.

[sprinter14]

Thanks Digger!! One of our parents called me and they found it on the website. You are correct, 5 quarters total and yes, 8th graders CAN play on the 7th grade team. In fact, a high school senior is allowed to play on the freshmen team!!! According to this, they can play on both teams in the same night!!!

Nowhere does it stipulate because of "low numbers" ......... so this really leaves it open for coaches to manipulate the system. Yes, there was one player for the opponent last night who played 7 quarters of ball in one night. She was the deciding factor in BOTH games. Our 8th graders lost by 3 in the final seconds. Problem is, it is up to our coach to protest at the point of substitution in the game (too late now) and the player, if guilty, becomes ineligible for the rest of the season. I wonder how many players, coaches, and parents are NOT aware of this........because none of ours were.

Now, based on the size of the school we played last night, I find it hard to believe that they can only find four 7th graders who want to play ball. I think it might become convenient to go ahead and cater to your best players and start grooming them for high school at that level. Overall, I think OHSAA does a great job, but I have one word for this rule..........assinine. Now, some coaches will not try very hard to get kids out for the team or will not try hard to keep a kid who is not high on talent......when you can pull down some 8th graders.

Thanks again for the help digger and SOC!!

[peeblesbuck]

I seriously doubt that coaches would move a good 8th grader down just to win a 7th grade game. If I was guessing I would say that if that school didn't move the 8th graders down then there would be NO game to play and that hurts both teams. I agree with digger in the fact that it's normally the weaker 8th graders who are moved down in these cases. It's amazing today even in some of the larger schools the lack of numbers playing sports. There are several southern Ohio schools this year that either don't have a JV team or they can only afford to play 2 quarters of JV due to the quarters of their players that night and for the year which I believe is 90.

Was the team you played last night from Ohio? West Virginia and Kentucky don't really have any rules when it comes to the amount of quarters or the number of teams you play on. In Kentucky a 7th grader can play varsity sports. If there are three games on the same night (Freshmen, JV, and Varsity) they can play 12 quarters in those states.

socfan - is that a uniform rule across the board for all of Ohio or does it vary from league to league?

[sprinter14]

I wouldn't have a problem with it if they took their 8th graders with the least playing time. But I have the video to show that the same kid put the hurt on both of our teams and played 7 quarters in one night. I think she was a 7th grader. Like i said, their 8th garders combined to score 10 on us and we lost by 9. It just really stinks when our kids haven't won a game all season and we are using 12 kids......all 7th graders and lose to a team using more 8th than 7th.

Yes, the team is an Ohio team......SEOAL at that.

My point is this..........without a better OHSAA rule, it is open to coaches to manipulate the rules the way they want. I can understand Southwest Podunk Catholic little D4 school doing this. And I can understand a conference full of small schools making an agreement on this. But to leave it open seems odd to me.

[osumufan]

I know in high school if a kid goes into a game for his 6th quarter of the night then it is a technical foul. This happened in a South Point game a few weeks ago. It actually happened twice in the game against SP. Don't know what coach wasn't paying attention but twice in one game is ridiculous. In high school you are only allowed 90 quarters total for the season. But I don't think that includes tournament but I may be wrong. i guess it is the scorers job to catch the kids playing too many quarters.

[favabeans]

From past experience the scorers from both teams should check the names and numbers in the books and mark if a player has played in the previous game. They should note how many quarters that player is allowed to play in the next game.

If a junior high team plays in a after season tournament a player can only play for one team. They cannot play for the 7th grade and then move on to play for the 8th grade or the other way around.

If a team comes to Ohio to play they have to follow the OHSAA rules, which would mean only 5 quarters played per night.

[bleacherwarmer]

Also as a rule, if a player moves up (from 7th to 8th grade) then they cannot move back down to 7th grade. Once they move from the 7th grade team to the 8th grade they must stay at that level for the rest of the season.

Actually, per OHSAA, they do not control/regulate moving ‘up and down’. Same as in high school, they do not regulate/govern/control moving players from freshmen to JV to Varsity, with the stipulation of course that the total quarter rule for the SEASON (56 junior high) and per day (5) is met. So, the player may move from 7th to 8th and back again so long as they do not go over their quarter limit.

[socfan]

Also as a rule, if a player moves up (from 7th to 8th grade) then they cannot move back down to 7th grade. Once they move from the 7th grade team to the 8th grade they must stay at that level for the rest of the season.

Actually, per OHSAA, they do not control/regulate moving ‘up and down’. Same as in high school, they do not regulate/govern/control moving players from freshmen to JV to Varsity, with the stipulation of course that the total quarter rule for the SEASON (56 junior high) and per day (5) is met. So, the player may move from 7th to 8th and back again so long as they do not go over their quarter limit.

I was mistaken on who regulates this situation for our area schools. It's our league (SHL) policy that once a 7th grader moves up to the 8th grade team, they cannot move "back down." Sorry for the confusion.

[bcnu]

Actually it just says Junior High, It does not say 7th grade or 8th grade. So in all rights, you can mix them up unless you have league rules as mentioned.