New AHSAA policy allows home schooled students to play at local high schools

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - The Alabama High School Athletic Association made several changes at its annual legislative council meeting Tuesday night.

Non-traditional students in Alabama are now eligible to play at their local high school, but don't expect a flood of new players.

"It's typically been somewhere around one to five percent of the home-schooled or the non-traditional students in other states that actually apply for this type of opportunity," said Ron Ingram with the AHSAA

Last year, the Legislature was close to mandating the change through a so-called "Tim Tebow Bill."

Tebow was home-schooled, but still played football at his local high school before winning the Heisman Trophy and two national championship at the University of Florida.

The legislature put a halt on their bill after AHSAA agreed to enact the policy on their own so they would have control over the changes.

The association is emphasizing an equal playing field for traditional and non-traditional students. The same academic and athletic eligibility requirements will need to be met.

"Our outstanding coaches will now be able to work with more outstanding students in the school district," Ingram said. "These non-traditional students can only enroll at the school that serves the district where their parents reside, the public school that is, where their parents reside and be immediately eligible if they meet all other academic and age requirement eligibility. There will be some assessment tests that our non-traditional [kids] will have to take, which will be similar to what traditional students have to do at the end of each semester, just to make sure everyone is becoming academically eligible."

One of the requirements is that a home school student can't have more practice time than a traditional student, but what counts as practice time, and how that would be monitored and enforced, raises more questions.

"I've heard from one parent today concerned about how it would work," said Brandon Dean, Athletic Director for Montgomery Public Schools. "We talked via e-mail and I answered her questions to the best of my knowledge. I know at first everybody's kind of on the edge about the rule being passed, but i know it's here now and it's going to be a change for everybody. But we must embrace change. It's just a way of life."

The change will go into effect at the end of this school year.

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