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Major changes to High School athletics could be coming to a public school near you if several state lawmakers have their way. Legislation pending at the state Capitol would require public school athletic programs to allow immediate transfers from both public and private schools. The legislation has athletic officials up in arms.

800 schools belong to the Florida High School Athletic Association. It regulates when athletes are eligible to play and whether they have to sit out for a period after transferring. State Senator Steve Wise would change all of that. Wise’s legislation would allow students to be eligible to play immediately after transferring from either public or private schools.

“If there’s no basketball team at your school, or no football team at your school, why can you not go to another school and play, because maybe, your parents want you at this small private school” says the term limited legislator.

The change is drawing heat from the existing high school athletics governing body.

Opponents say the change will only open the door for athletes shopping for high schools where they want to play, encourage coaches to actively recruit and cut secret deals with private schools, and they say it will make academics second to athletics.

Ron Sachs represents the Florida High School Athletic Association. He says the legislation would be setting a bad precedent. “It would turn high school sports almost into professional promotion of coaches luring athletes from their own schools just so they can bolster their own teams. You can’t do that. It’s against the rules. Changing the law so that you can break those rules is a bad idea and it teaches bad sportsmanship to kids all over the state” says FHSAA spokesman Sachs.

State rules currently say that once student-athletes practice for one school during a school calendar year, they can’t play at another school that same year without receiving a waiver. The legislation is ready for a vote on the House floor and has one more committee stop in the Senate before being voted upon by the full Senate.