Under a rule adopted by the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA), students who attend a summer sports camp are barred from playing any sports for a year if they move into a district that employs a coach who also worked those camps during the summer months.

State Rep. Jon Echols, an Oklahoma City Republican who is also an attorney, says lawsuits are likely and views the OSSAA’s new rule as an effort to undermine Oklahoma’s open-transfer law, which allows students to attend any public-school district that has space available.

“Rules like this don’t take kids in mind at all,” Echols said. “They are concerned about coaches and programs. I think it is only a matter of time before frustration builds with OSSAA, which is a volunteer organization, and you could see a competitor come in that creates rules and cares about how they affect children.”

OSSAA’s Rule 24 states if a high-school student moves or transfers into a new district, the youth will be “ineligible for varsity participation for one year” if a coach at the new school ever coached the student prior to the move, or if the coach “acted as a private athletic instructor” for the youth, even if the coach was not paid for his work. The ban on sports also applies if a student “participated in a sports camp or clinic run by a member school and/or its coach(es).”

Because sports camps have become so widespread, and coaches from a wide range of schools may work at those camps, the rule could have a widespread impact on students whose families move to new districts or choose to transfer a child under Oklahoma’s open-transfer law.

OSSAA’s new rule is expected to prompt lawsuits.

Among the arguments that will benefit families pursuing legal challenges is the fact that in 2007 the 10th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with a lower-court ruling that found the OSSAA is “a state actor” because of the “persuasive entwinement of public institutions and public officials in its composition and workings.” The court noted that OSSAA’s directors at that time were all public-school employees and that the state of Oklahoma authorized OSSAA to determine athletic eligibility and hold playoff games.

According to data reported by Oklahoma public schools, at least $265.8 million is spent annually on the salaries of sports staff at schools. And that number does not account for the taxpayer funds expended each year on the building and maintenance of sports facilities at public schools.

Drummond to OSSAA: Cease and Desist

Attorney General Gentner Drummond has sent the OSSAA a “cease and desist” order, saying enforcement of the OSSAA rule “lends itself for arbitrary and capricious enforcement and to confused compliance.”

Drummond wrote that the OSSAA rule’s “heavy-handedness dissuades student-athletes from moving or transferring, fearing that they may be declared ineligible to participate in varsity sports. On review, this rule indefensibly contravenes the Legislature’s plain and unambiguous expressions and intent related to student rights to attend school and receive meaningful educational benefits.”

He also wrote that the rule “appears to solve a nonexistent problem with unreasonable and incongruous force. Its application will prevent otherwise eligible students from transferring schools as is their right under state law.”

The OSSAA has already been forced to back down from at least one lawsuit related to its efforts to prevent students from playing sports in a new district.

Star receiver Kayleb Barnett attended Broken Arrow when he lived with his mother, but when he moved to live with his father in the Jenks district, OSSAA tried to prevent Barnett from playing sports at Jenks. OSSAA relented after Barnett’s family sued on Aug. 30.

Barnett’s petition noted that the youth “is currently being considered for athletic scholarships to play football in college, is a state champion runner in track, and will be irreparably harmed if he is not permitted to participate in athletics at Jenks High School.”

The lawsuit noted that Barnett and his father had clearly established residency in the Jenks district after having been subjected to three at-home visits, two scheduled and one unscheduled, by officials.

The petition stated that the OSSAA denied Barnett eligibility based on a complaint that claimed the father of a Jenks student had “coached Barnett in 7-on-7 offseason football” and that the coach’s son and Barnett were friends.

But Barnett’s family noted those facts do not equate to recruitment.

“There is zero evidence that Jenks High School, or anyone acting on behalf of Jenks High School, recruited Barnett to play football or run track at Jenks,” Barnett’s petition stated.

According to Barnett’s petition, the OSSAA also denied eligibility based on individuals knowing that Barnett was expected to move to the Jenks district.

But Barnett’s petition bluntly noted that it is not a violation of OSSAA rules “for Barnett’s friends to know that he would be living with his father his senior year of high school and playing sports at Jenks as a result.”

“The OSSAA has a long history of making unreasonable, arbitrary, and capricious decisions affecting high school students’ participation in athletics, which is a matter of public import and concern,” Barnett’s petition stated.

The OSSAA issued a brief statement in response to Drummond’s cease-and-desist letter.

“The Oklahoma Attorney General has raised concerns about Rule 24, known to many as the Link Rule. The OSSAA is working to address these concerns and will seek to meet with the Oklahoma Attorney General to discuss this matter. In the interim, the OSSAA is suspending the enforcement of Rule 24 until further notice,” the OSSAA statement said. “Students who were determined to be ineligible under Rule 24 will have their eligibility reinstated and will receive notice from the OSSAA regarding the status of their eligibility. While the OSSAA believes Rule 24 addresses important issues in high school athletics, the OSSAA wants to partner with its member schools and student athletes to be sure its rules appropriately address athletic eligibility and help ensure competitive balance in high school sports.”

Rather than continue to advocate for Rule 24, state officials hope the OSSAA will relent and quickly repeal it.

“The OSSAA’s enforcement of Rule 24 unfairly targets student-athletes and undermines what lawmakers have already put in place to help kids and families make decisions based on their children’s education needs,” said state Sen. Adam Pugh, an Edmond Republican who chairs the Senate Education Committee. “The Legislature has empowered parents to make these decisions, not at the whim of an association that makes arbitrary rules that attempt to stifle a student-athlete’s ability to learn or compete. Now with the attorney general weighing in, it is my hope the OSSAA reverses course to ensure they are complying with the law and prioritizes the well-being and success of students.”