Eligibility Rules
Know Your Eligibility Rules for Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, Inc. Sponsored Athletic Competition
(revised July 1, 2009)
Know Your Eligibility Rules
A student who participates in interscholastic athletics at a school which is a member of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, Inc. ("PIAA") must adhere to PIAA eligibility rules. If you fail to comply with these rules, you will lose your eligibility to participate in interscholastic athletics. If you participate while ineligible, you, your school and/or Team will be penalized. It is, therefore, important for you to be aware of the applicable eligibility provisions.
The information contained herein highlights and summarizes the major eligibility requirements you must meet to participate in interscholastic athletics. It does not list every rule or every detail. Unless otherwise indicated, each requirement applies to students in grades 7 through 12, inclusive.
The Principal of your school is responsible for certifying the eligibility of all students representing your school in interscholastic athletics. If you have any questions concerning your athletic eligibility, either now or in the future, you should discuss the matter with your school Principal or Athletic Director. If they are uncertain about a matter, they can request, from your local PIAA District Committee, guidance and even a formal ruling as to your athletic eligibility. A complete copy of the PIAA eligibility rules may be viewed on the PIAA Website at www.piaa.org, or may be obtained from your Principal or Athletic Director.
Age
To be eligible to participate in grades 10 through 12, you must not have reached your 19th birthday by June 30 immediately preceding the school year. Where participation is limited to grades 7 and 8, you may not have reached your 15th birthday by June 30 immediately preceding the school year; where participation is limited to grades 7 through 9, you may not have reached your 16th birthday by June 30 immediately preceding the school year.
Amateur Status and Awards
To be eligible to participate in a sport, you must be an amateur in that sport. Amateur status, and eligibility, is lost if you, or your parent(s) or guardian(s), receive money or property for or related to your athletic ability, participation, performance, services, or training in a sport.
You may receive awards only from your school or school-affiliated booster club, the sponsor of an athletic event, a non-profit service organization approved by your school Principal, or the news media. Permissible awards include items of apparel, a blanket, watch, ring, scroll, carry-on or warm-up bag, photograph, medal, plaque, or similar award, which must bear appropriate institutional insignia or comparable identification. The fair market value of items provided to you may not exceed $200.
Attendance
You must be regularly enrolled in and in full-time attendance at a PIAA member school, or be home-schooled.
Generally, you are eligible only at the school at which you are enrolled or, if a home-schooled student, at a public school in the public school district in which you reside. Charter School or Cyber Charter School students should consult with your Principal to determine the school at which you are eligible.
If you are absent from school during a semester for a total of 20 or more school days, you will lose your eligibility until you have been in attendance for a total of 45 school days following your 20th day of absence.
Consent of Parent or Guardian
You are eligible only if there is on file with the Principal of your school a certificate signed by your parent(s) or guardian(s) consenting to your participation in Practices, Inter-School Practices, Scrimmages, and/or Contests in the particular sport involved.
Comprehensive Initial Pre-Participation Physical Evaluation
You are eligible only if you have completed a comprehensive initial pre-participation physical evaluation ("CIPPE"), performed by an Authorized Medical Examiner (as that term is defined in the GLOSSARY of the PIAA By-Laws) before your first sport season's first Practice of that school year. If you seek to participate in subsequent sport(s) in the same school year, you may be required to be re-evaluated and re-certified that your physical condition is satisfactory. Check with your Principal or Athletic Director to determine whether re-evaluation and re-certification is needed.
Wrestlers must also obtain from an Authorized Medical Examiner, no earlier than six weeks prior to the first Regular Season Contest day and no later than the Monday preceding the first Regular Season Contest day of the wrestling season, a certification of the minimum wrestling weight at which they may wrestle during that season.
In all cases, an Authorized Medical Examiner must certify, on the PIAA CIPPE form, as to your physical fitness to participate. A CIPPE may be performed no earlier than June 1st; and, regardless of when performed during the school year, remains effective only until the next May 31st.
Transfers
You are treated as having transferred whenever you change schools, even if you are promoted to a higher level school or are out of school for a period of time before entering the new school. If your transfer from one school to another is materially motivated in some way by an athletic purpose you will lose your athletic eligibility in each sport in which you participate within a period of one year immediately preceding the date on which you transferred. This requirement applies even if you would be otherwise eligible at the school to which you transferred.
Period of Time After Eighth Grade, Participation, and Grade Repetition
Your athletic eligibility extends only until you have reached the end of your fourth consecutive year beyond the eighth grade. Therefore, if you repeat a grade after eighth, you will be ineligible as a senior.
Additionally, you may participate in (a) a maximum of six seasons in each sport during grades seven through twelve, (b) a maximum of four seasons in each sport during grades nine through twelve, and (c) a maximum of three seasons in each sport during grades seven through nine.
You may participate in only one season in each sport during each school year.
Outside Participation
If you participate in a non-school athletic program, while enrolled at a school which has a Team in that sport, you will be eligible for District and Inter-District Championship Contests in that sport only if you are in uniform and available to participate as a member of your school Team for at least 75 percent of its Regular Season Contests.
Academic and Curricular Requirements
You must pursue a curriculum defined and approved by your Principal as a full-time curriculum.
You must be passing at least four full-credit subjects, or the equivalent, as of each Friday during a grading period. If you fail to meet this requirement, you will lose your eligibility from the following Sunday through the Saturday immediately following the next Friday as of which you meet this requirement.
You must have passed at least four full-credit subjects or the equivalent during the previous grading period, except that eligibility for the first grading period is based on your final grades for the preceding school year. If you fail to meet this requirement, you will lose your eligibility for at least 10 or 15 school days of the next grading period, beginning on the first day that report cards are issued. If your school has four grading periods, you will be ineligible for at least 15 school days; if your school has six grading periods, you will be ineligible for at least 10 school days.
All-Star Contests
You will lose your eligibility in a sport for one year if you participate in an all-star Contest in that sport. Your eligibility will not be affected if you participate in a Contest that is (1) not advertised or promoted as an all-star Contest; (2) open to all participants on the basis of a tryout or a uniform standard of qualification; and (3) you do not represent your school and do not wear any school-affiliated uniform or apparel in the Contest.
Out-of-Season Participation
All PIAA sports have a defined season. If your school Team conducts Practice and/or participates in Inter-School Practices, Scrimmages, and/or Contests outside that PIAA defined season, your school will be penalized.
Use of Anabolic Steroids
By state law, all Pennsylvania school districts are required to adopt and enforce rules and regulations prohibiting the use of anabolic steroids, except for a valid medical purpose, by students involved in school-related athletics. School Boards are also required to establish penalties for students found in violation of the adopted rules and regulations. As penalties may vary from school district to school district, you should consult with your Principal or Athletic Director as to the penalties that your School Board has adopted.
