SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Boys Varsity Soccer Eligibility

Lower, by the way I did read it before and I just re-read it again. His grades were struggling before he went to the private school and they didn't get better while he was there, so he transferred back out.

MAybe you should have read it a little closer.

I'm sure that this will be a hot and controversial topic for the immediate future, but the reality right now is that he has been ruled inelidgeable to play by the SCHSL. Given the strictness of that organization and the strictness of school districts in today's world, I would not expect them to change their verdict on this. Getting outside of sports a little, the schools (at least in Greenville) have had a no tolerance policy for any rule broken and the punishment is usually severe, even if the person had no knowledge of breaking the rule. In that light, I expect SCHSL to follow their rules as rules, and not guidelines. I really don't know how SCHSL defines "hardship" so it's really hard to tell if the appeal will work or not.

yes his grades were bad. what has happened since he transferred back out? OH his grades have improved. So he has worked hard to get his grades better so that he can go play college soccer. The year at the private school hurt his GPA because it was 9th grade. The year before did not because obviously that was 8th grade.

Yes i did read the article. Why would i be commenting if i didnt? The message i was trying to convey there is that he or his parents should have known that you cant do that. It doesnt matter if you transfer from another state. Im pretty sure if you have to repeat a grade you still cant play sports in Georgia as well.

How was he eligible to play sports in the first place with such a low GPA?

So the conclusion I am coming too from many of the responses is that if you are having academic problems then you are granted another year of eligibility. So therefore if a junior fails a class and is not able to graduate on time and has to go back for another year, he should be granted another year of eligibility? If he is ruled eligible to play then this could open up a lot of discussions on what makes a player eligible and what doesn't. SCHSL could end up causing a lot of trouble by allowing Nathan to play.

Or they could let him play..make a lot of people upset.. and just let the double standard stand without any real explanation.. which they seem to do at least once a year.

This is true, the state is not very consistant. I am not against Nathan or him playing but by doing this the state will open up an arguement that I don't think they want to do. As for Nathan, I am sure that everything will work out for him and if he is eligible to attend college and play then I am sure that he will.

I'm not sure where I stand on this decision specifically regarding Arroyo however I would like to weigh in regarding the extra year of eligibility.

In NY state we had 5 years to play 4. I find it hard to believe that this rule was put in place so that students could intentionally fail classes so as to be an extra year older and thus gain an advantage. Rather, it seems more likely to me that the High School League recognized that there will be times in athlete's lives where they may be struggling academically and in those times they should put their full resources towards academics. That being said, if a student is unable to "right the ship" then they would not be penalized and lose the year of eligibility.

South Carolina's rule as it stands punishes students who may decide that they are struggling in school and need to dedicate the year to their academics. It says to students, even if you're struggling in school you have to play this year if you want to use all of your available eligibility. The student's dual focus results in the student's academic standing to suffer even further.

If the rule were changed would we see a dramatic increase in the number of athletes intentionally failing in order to be a year older? Certainly not, those who would employ such a rediculous practice are currently doing it at the 8th grade. The rule change would simply allow more flexibility for rare situations like this that occur.

Sad to see the end of this student's high school eligibility, however, as stated before, division 1 schools who were interested in this student will continue to be. Most of their signings for the next season have already occurred and those who remain interested will gladly travel to view a club match where they can watch several potential recruits all at once. The real losers in this scenario are Arroyo's teammates who have lost out on a significant cog to their team (as well as the free publicity/recruiting that they would have received from coaches coming to watch Arroyo).

Good luck and best wishes as the season begins

For the last time, the article states that he struggled his freshman year. After that, according to his stepfather, he has been working extremely hard to get his GPA up. So Always Right, obviously his GPA was high enough to play high school soccer last year.