D-1 Transfer rules

[Forecheck23]

Can D-1 women's hockey players transfer and play the next season at the new college or do they have to sit out a year. I was told the WCHA restricts transfers within the WCHA. Do any other conferences have transfer restrictions?

 

[Skate79]

Re: D-1 Transfer rules

Can D-1 women's hockey players transfer and play the next season at the new college or do they have to sit out a year. I was told the WCHA restricts transfers within the WCHA. Do any other conferences have transfer restrictions?

Not to my knowledge. Anna MacDonald transferred from BC to Harvard in 2007 and was able to play right away. It might depend on the conference but I don't think the NCAA prohibits a transfer from playing the following season.

 

[wwhyte]

Re: D-1 Transfer rules

Not to my knowledge. Anna MacDonald transferred from BC to Harvard in 2007 and was able to play right away. It might depend on the conference but I don't think the NCAA prohibits a transfer from playing the following season.

Likewise, Jackie Young transferred from Harvard to BC in 2011 and kept on playing. But those are between conferences too. I believe though that Jenn Wakefield transferred from UNH to BU and didn't miss a season?

 

[myStuff]

Re: D-1 Transfer rules

Can D-1 women's hockey players transfer and play the next season at the new college or do they have to sit out a year. I was told the WCHA restricts transfers within the WCHA. Do any other conferences have transfer restrictions?

Keep in mind that a transfer doesn't get to take all their credits so either has to take extra credits or graduate late

 

[DC78-82]

Re: D-1 Transfer rules

Likewise, Jackie Young transferred from Harvard to BC in 2011 and kept on playing. But those are between conferences too. I believe though that Jenn Wakefield transferred from UNH to BU and didn't miss a season?

Hockey East also has a one year sit rule. Wakefield served hers while she was centralized with TC prior to the 2010 Olympics. There have been other HE players that have waited their year, but were a little less high profile, so it may have flown under the radar. Campbell at UVM is one.

 

[wwhyte]

Re: D-1 Transfer rules

Hockey East also has a one year sit rule. Wakefield served hers while she was centralized with TC prior to the 2010 Olympics. There have been other HE players that have waited their year, but were a little less high profile, so it may have flown under the radar. Campbell at UVM is one.

Got it, thanks.

 

[UCONN FAN]

Re: D-1 Transfer rules

Hockey East also has a one year sit rule. Wakefield served hers while she was centralized with TC prior to the 2010 Olympics. There have been other HE players that have waited their year, but were a little less high profile, so it may have flown under the radar. Campbell at UVM is one.

The players have to be enrolled full-time for the year that they sit. The Lams enrolled in classes while they were centralized prior to the Vancouver games. Online classes are taking care of that now. Currently there is no mandate for a player to sit if they transfer out of conference.

 

[OnMAA]

Re: D-1 Transfer rules

There is not a good one size fits all answer. Only sit rules I know about for sure is the within WCHA one, and any move to or within the CIS. (The CIS one is actually changing next season, at which point you can move from the NCAA to the CIS without sitting a year.).

There are other factors, like the departing school having to sign off (Witness the player that went from UVM to Cornell a few years ago and had to sit a year). If there is a rule in HE, it is relatively new. Pretty sure it did not exist 4 or 5 years ago, but there was talk at the time of bringing it in. Not sure if the HE "sits" from the past where due to the rule, or the lack of sign-off from the various schools.

To the best of my knowledge there is no ECAC sit rule, but also know that there are a myriad of Ivy rules over and above the ECAC/NCAA rules (red shirting for example).

If you are even thinking making a move, your best course of action is to check with the current schools compliance officer. They will be able to tell you A: what the rules are, and B: if the current school would support the move, as they have to sign off on it, before you can even entertain a conversation with another school.

 

[HockeyEast33]

Re: D-1 Transfer rules

There is not a good one size fits all answer. Only sit rules I know about for sure is the within WCHA one, and any move to or within the CIS. (The CIS one is actuallychanging next season, at which point you can move from the NCAA to the CIS without sitting a year.).

There are other factors, like the departing school having to sign off (Witness the player that went from UVM to Cornell a few years ago and had to sit a year). If there is a rule in HE, it is relatively new. Pretty sure it did not exist 4 or 5 years ago, but there was talk at the time of bringing it in. Not sure if the HE "sits" from the past where due to the rule, or the lack of sign-off from the various schools.

To the best of my knowledge there is no ECAC sit rule, but also know that there are a myriad of Ivy rules over and above the ECAC/NCAA rules (red shirting for example).

If you are even thinking making a move, your best course of action is to check with the current schools compliance officer. They will be able to tell you A: what the rules are, and B: if the current school would support the move, as they have to sign off on it, before you can even entertain a conversation with another school.

I can't speak to the legalities and nuances, but I am pretty confident if my daughter was on scholarship and seriously thinking of transferring, the absolute LAST people she would talk to would be her current team and school. This is not a casual inquiry - you should have exhausted all options to be happy at your current school before you embark on the transfer route. The current school is almost certainly going to yank your scholarship for the next year and future if you initiate that conversation, so you better have a definite place to go. if you're at a school with no scholarships or not on one, that is a different story, but the coaches will certainly cut your playing time and ignore you in most cases - they are there to win and kids who are leaving aren't going to help them do that in the future.

 

[claw]

I can't speak to the legalities and nuances, but I am pretty confident if my daughter was on scholarship and seriously thinking of transferring, the absolute LAST people she would talk to would be her current team and school. This is not a casual inquiry - you should have exhausted all options to be happy at your current school before you embark on the transfer route. The current school is almost certainly going to yank your scholarship for the next year and future if you initiate that conversation, so you better have a definite place to go. if you're at a school with no scholarships or not on one, that is a different story, but the coaches will certainly cut your playing time and ignore you in most cases - they are there to win and kids who are leaving aren't going to help them do that in the future.

If you're a D1 kid there is no self release like at D3... Schools are not allowed to talk to you unless they get a signed release from the compliance office of the players current school...Best to wait till the end of the season and then be upfront and honest about your intentions, IMO

 

[UCONN FAN]

Re: D-1 Transfer rules

I can't speak to the legalities and nuances, but I am pretty confident if my daughter was on scholarship and seriously thinking of transferring, the absolute LAST people she would talk to would be her current team and school. This is not a casual inquiry - you should have exhausted all options to be happy at your current school before you embark on the transfer route. The current school is almost certainly going to yank your scholarship for the next year and future if you initiate that conversation, so you better have a definite place to go. if you're at a school with no scholarships or not on one, that is a different story, but the coaches will certainly cut your playing time and ignore you in most cases - they are there to win and kids who are leaving aren't going to help them do that in the future.

Hux sound advice. A very good friend of ours (ice) almost found out the hard way about the rules of transferring. When Penn State was starting up he made a phone call unbeknownst to his daughter about availability at her position. The Penn State coach (or assistant) informed him that he was bound by NCAA rules to inform her current coach and AD of the inquisition. He immediately went into panic mode was able to assure them he was acting on his own and not on his daughters behalf. Of course there are ways around the rules when reaching out to school. A former coach or anybody who has the intended coach's ear could make an "informal inquiry" on the players behalf.

 

[OnMAA]

Re: D-1 Transfer rules

I can't speak to the legalities and nuances, but I am pretty confident if my daughter was on scholarship and seriously thinking of transferring, the absolute LAST people she would talk to would be her current team and school.

That would not be a very smart thing to do, as it could lead to:

A: A violation of NCAA rules, nixing any chance of an approval for the transfer

B: Even if you get a transfer, may cost the player a year if the "release" school decides to give you a hard time.

Therefore stand by my previous suggestion/advice. If you are seriously thinking about transferring, would check with the current schools compliance officer first before you engage any conversation with another school. It is a slippery slope either way, so think twice and hard before making any such move.

 

[Watson Rink]

Re: D-1 Transfer rules

Anna MacDonald transferred from BC to Harvard in 2007 and was able to play right away. .

wwhyte then posted: "Likewise, Jackie Young transferred from Harvard to BC in 2011 and kept on playing."

[Insert "player to be named later" joke of your choosing here]*

HockeyEast33 then wrote: " if you're at a school with no scholarships or not on one, that is a different story, but the coaches will certainly cut your playing time and ignore you in most cases - they are there to win and kids who are leaving aren't going to help them do that in the future."

Boy, I think that may have been the case with Young....towards the end of the season I kept asking myself "why has this kid's ice time been cut back so much? Nagging injury? Nasty biochem tests to study for?" but now I surmise she had done the ethical thing and let the cat out of the bag before the season ended. Does anybody know if that's true?

___________________________________________________
* Not a joke, but in Rev. Rul. 67-380, 1967-2 C.B. 291 the IRS held that while the trade of a second baseman for a left handed relief pitcher would constitute a Section 1231(b) tax-free like-kind exchange, the trade of a left fielder for a used bus would not. Unfortunately, the Rev. Rul. did not provide the name of any real-world outfielders who have been traded for buses.

 

[OnMAA]

Re: D-1 Transfer rules

Hux sound advice.

Hux ??....Huh ?.....Where/how did he enter into this conversation.

 

[wwhyte]

Re: D-1 Transfer rules

[Insert "player to be named later" joke of your choosing here]*

Oh, you mean who does Harvard get in 2015? YOU CAN'T HAVE SKARUPA.

Boy, I think that may have been the case with Young....towards the end of the season I kept asking myself "why has this kid's ice time been cut back so much? Nagging injury? Nasty biochem tests to study for?" but now I surmise she had done the ethical thing and let the cat out of the bag before the season ended. Does anybody know if that's true?

Interesting. I don't know but I can try to find out, though as we know Stone isn't afraid to sit players even if they're not transferring...

 

[UCONN FAN]

Re: D-1 Transfer rules

Hux ??....Huh ?.....Where/how did he enter into this conversation.

OOPS!!!!!!!! My bad........

 

[HockeyEast33]

Re: D-1 Transfer rules

Hux sound advice. A very good friend of ours (ice) almost found out the hard way about the rules of transferring. When Penn State was starting up he made a phone call unbeknownst to his daughter about availability at her position. The Penn State coach (or assistant) informed him that he was bound by NCAA rules to inform her current coach and AD of the inquisition. He immediately went into panic mode was able to assure them he was acting on his own and not on his daughters behalf. Of course there are ways around the rules when reaching out to school. A former coach or anybody who has the intended coach's ear could make an "informal inquiry" on the players behalf.

Most things in life get done by way of "informal inquiry".... transfers aren't any different. Most players have an option for the informal inquiry if they want to make it - old prep/high school coach, old club hockey coach, etc. "I was talking to Player X last week and she doesn't seem very happy at Whatsamatter U, how are things going with you?". Yeah - I'm sure it never happens.....

Hard to imagine a kid telling their school "I want to shop around" when they have abslutely no idea if there might be a spot for them anywhere else - who would advise that, NCAA rules or not!!??? Most kids in this situation are probably riding the pine, so it is not like another school is going to drop some other kid for them on the spur of the moment. And the next season team is already set by April (after the season) - they would have to luck into a spot somewhere else.

Even at the prep school level, I know of parents/kids who expressed interest in moving to another prep school, NAHA or the Shamrocks mid-season and they ended up suddenly having an attitude problem and rarely seeing the ice again even though they were clearly in the top half or higher of the players on the team. One prep school coach I know of at least had the decency to play the kid against the two schools the player wanted to transfer to, but sat her the rest of the games.

 

[OnMAA]

Re: D-1 Transfer rules

Most kids in this situation are probably riding the pine.

In those cases, there is not a lot lost by talking to the school first. Player is already riding the pine, so what is there to lose in that case by talking to the compliance officer. IMHO, if a player is riding the pine, for whatever reason, the first option of the player should be to sit down with the coach and ask him/her what it would take to get into the lineup. If it is a coach willing to invest time in the player (and they should, as they recruited them), that should be option A. If for some reason that does not work out, or coach is not willing to work with the player, then on to the compliance office it is. JMO.

 

[HockeyEast33]

Re: D-1 Transfer rules

In those cases, there is not a lot lost by talking to the school first. Player is already riding the pine, so what is there to lose in that case by talking to the compliance officer.

A scholarship.....and that's a lot to lose. You're coming from the Ivy League perspective, where a player is in the school no matter what and continues to get their need based financial aid regardless of their athletic participation. In that case, if you're bench bound and unhappy, there is little to nothing lost by having the conversation. That situation doesn't apply to the majority of other D1 players who are on some sort of athletics based financial aid. They have a LOT to lose if that financial aid goes away. That's unlikely if they continue to put in their time and ride the pine, but don't think that coaches with scholarship kids riding the bench aren't aware that they could use that money to potentially get another player that might contribute more and if a player gives them a legitimate reason to yank the money - and asking to investigate trasferring falls into that category - then they'll be all over that.

 

[Twolinepass]

Re: D-1 Transfer rules

Okay, so what about transfers from DI to DIII? There are always several of those each year.
And what about transfers from DIII to DI? Does that ever happen? Is there a sit out rule? Can DI coaches recruit DIII players?