This certainly is a question that bears discussion, especially as this is a relatively new issue facing high school teams since otherwise-eligible players have been prevented by contract from representing their high schools during the Academy season. Once the Academy season is complete, they are free to play on the high school teams for the remainder of the season/postseason.
At this point, the SCHSL does not have a deadline by which a player must be registered on a high school roster; after the original roster submission, eligibility for individual players may be submitted at any point in the season. As Alister points out, club teams are also still able to (and often do) add players just for State Cup play who have not been with the team all season, because even though there is a roster freeze date, it is after the last game of the regular season and immediately before Cup play begins, so currently the practice is legal both in SCHSL and SCYSA play.
I guess the question is, does "legal" add up to "right"?
I can tell you what our Athletic Department policy is. On a team where there are tryouts--and cuts--it is considered improper to have players competing for a spot on the team during the tryouts, and players cut from that team based on tryouts, only to add other players later who did not have to go through the tryout process.
I personally would have a hard time telling a player who had been at practice working all season, and on the field fighting for the team all season, that he/she had lost a position to someone who showed up at the last moment because they had something more important to do while everyone else was working to get us to that point. I'm not saying it wasn't important--I'm saying they made a choice of what was important, and sometimes choices mean having to give up one thing to achieve something else.
I'm a big believer in the old saying, "you dance with those that brought you." The players who worked to get their team through the season got you to the playoffs; personally, I think they should be the ones to continue to compete. Playing devil's advocate, though, I have to wonder how the team feels at that point. Are players willing to step aside to make room for a strong player who can help their entire team extend their season? Or are they being forcibly displaced?
Lots of questions...again, the rules of both high school and club soccer at this point allow for the additions. I look forward to seeing how the discussion and the responses from both organizations go.
