It seems like there’s a lot of confusion over Wednesday’s passage of the one-time transfer rule in the South Carolina High School League, which brings us to a much deeper issue.
This resolution has been in the works for more than a year. A majority of states across America already have some sort of transfer rule in place, and if you haven’t realized — just take a look at the football rosters next season — recruiting is always happening.
Many of our local athletic directors were in attendance for this week’s conference and confidently voted yes on the measure. Speaking with them, there’s a clear understanding of why this happened. For at least five years now, the overall community aspect and amateurism of high school sports has steadily disappeared.
With the staggering amount of transfers and appeals over the past few years, athletic directors and coaches have had to adjust schedules and rosters with zero certainty and without rules or regulation.
Simply put, it was a crap shoot. This past year, there were nearly 100 transfer appeals across the state.
Not the majority by any stretch of the imagination, and not the case every time, but athletes and their families are more interested in the best place to further an athletic career instead of an education.
It sucks, it does. High school sports should not be a space for recruiting or money. But in the year 2025, that’s exactly where we are. I’m willing to almost guarantee that by 2027, football players in the SCHSL from 1A to 5A will have NIL deals before their senior years.
No longer are the days where the most talented — or most fortunate if we are being honest — stay at their homegrown high school for four years. Decades of exploitation of a broken system and that system’s finally been overwhelmed.
For those who still choose to believe high school sports is a safe spot for learning and team pride, I’m sorry. There will always be a sense of that, but it's no longer the norm.
Contact sports writer Andrew Chodes at 864-943-2530 or follow on X @AndrewChodes_
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