Participation in interscholastic athletics is a privilege, not a right.  To earn this privilege, student athletes are required to abide by the rules and academic requirements set forth by the School District of Osceola County, FHSAA and Orange Belt Conference.

Participants in SDOC athletic offerings will abide by all FHSAA Bylaws and Policies, along with the established policies of School District of Osceola County and the Orange Belt Conference.

ACADEMIC REQUIREMENT:
A high school student must have a cumulative 2.0 grade point average on a 4.0 unweighted scale, or its equivalent, at the conclusion of each semester to be academically eligible during the next semester (§ 1006.15(3)(a)1, F.S

High School Student Has Eight Semesters of Eligibility.
A student is limited to eight consecutive semesters of eligibility beginning with semester he/she begins ninth grade for the first time. This does not imply that the student has eight semesters of participation. After eight consecutive semesters, the student is permanently ineligible.

High School Age Limit.
A student who reaches the age of 19 prior to July 1st shall become permanently ineligible.

Amateurism

A student may not participate in an athletic activity of this Association unless he/she is an amateur. An amateur is one who engages in athletic competition solely for the physical, mental, social, and pleasure benefits derived from the activity.

DUE PROCESS

Eligibility Appeals. When a student is determined to be ineligible by a member school and/or is ruled ineligible by the Executive Director or his/her designee, the member school principal may appeal the ruling of the Executive Director if he/she or the student takes issue with it and must do so at the student’s request. If possible, such disposition of the appeal is to be made before the end of the applicable sport season, the next scheduled Section Appeal Committee meeting or the next scheduled Board of Directors meeting, whichever is the earliest (§ 1006.20(2)(g), F.S.).

ATHLETIC PAPERWORK AND CONSENT:
All required athletic clearance forms are found at www.aktivate.com – Parents shall create a free account and register their student-athlete with all required consent and acknowledgment forms.  

Also required for participation:
            An Athletic Physical (Signed by a FL AHCP and is good for 365 days)
            A cleared EKG – 1 cleared EKG is good for all four (4) years of High School.
            Concussion baseline test. All directions are located on the aktivate website.
                        * GA4 is required if the student is a transfer
                        * EL7 for any home school student
                        * EL14 for any student who attends a school but participates for a different county school.

Falsification of any required documents shall result in loss of athletic eligibility for 365 days upon confirmation that documents submitted were falsified.

Non-Traditional students shall participate, in athletics, at the following locations -
                1.) Home Education, PEP     Zoned Public School, Charter or Private school (if allowed) or if they attend a minimum of 1 class period, per day, at the choice school for the entire academic school year.
                2.) Charter School               Zoned Public School, Public school of Choice through Controlled Open Enrollment, Charter or Private school (if allowed)
                3.) Special School                 Any Public School within Osceola County
                4.) Non-Member Private   Any Public school, charter or Private school (if allowed)
                5.) FLVS Full time               Zoned Public School, Public school of Choice through Controlled Open Enrollment, Charter or Private school (if allowed)
                6.) Traditional Public         Any Public School within Osceola County or Private school (if allowed)
                7.) Public Transfer              If the student participated in a sport at their previous school, the student could continue to participate in that sport at that school for the remainder of the school year.

Student-Athlete Responsibilities

Attend all practices and events throughout the season unless excused by the Head Coach

Show respect for yourself, your teammates, coaches, teachers, administration school staff, officials, opposing student-athletes, coaches and community members.

Be a role model of good character/conduct in school, at practice, games, and within the community as you are an ambassador of the School District of Osceola County, your school and highly visible member of the student body.

Improper or Unsportsmanlike Conduct:
Coaches, paid or volunteer, and student athletes may be suspended or removed from team participation for improper or unsportsmanlike conduct, failure to report child abuse, disrespectful student or adult behavior including but not limited to obscene language, hazing, bullying, gestures, insubordination and discriminatory actions on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, age, disability, marital status or genetic information in its education programs and any extra-curricular activity.

Ejection from FHSAA contest:
Per SDOC Board Policy 5.80. In the event a fine is imposed by the FHSAA on any school, coach, assistant coach, District employee, student athlete, or school athletic booster club member, no District funds, including internal accounts, shall be used to pay the fine without requiring reimbursement from the responsible person(s). FHSAA policy imposes fines after a pre-determined number of student athlete suspensions and incidents of unsportsmanlike conduct per school. Responsible student athletes shall be levied a fine for each offense, regardless of an FHSAA imposed fine, as follows:
                a. Level 1 Offense $100

b. Level 2 Offense $250

When the school receives notification from the FHSAA of an imposed fine or student suspension, a fine shall be payable to the school immediately by the responsible person(s). Payments of fines shall be placed in a special internal account designated exclusively for the payment of FHSAA fines. The school shall pay any levied fines imposed by the FHSAA from the specially designated accounts within thirty (30) days of notification and seek reimbursement from the responsible parties. At the close of the fiscal year and after all imposed fines have been paid to the FHSAA, monies remaining in the account shall be transferred to the Athletic General Account for program support.

Out of school and in school suspension:
Students who are assigned OSS or ISS are prohibited from participating in practices or contests during their suspension. 

Quitting a team:

Any student who quits a sport prior to the end of the season, must clear any obligation with the coach prior to participation in another activity and cannot participate in the next sport until previous sport season is completed unless excused by both coaches and athletic director.

TRANSFER AFTER STARTING A SPORT

A student may not participate in a sport if the student participated in that same sport at another school during that school year, unless the students meet the criteria in s.1006.15 (3)(h). (Per s.1006.195). Participation is defined as the first day of the sport season as posted by the Florida High School Athletic Association. (FHSAA) - * Exception to the rule

  A student may transfer and participate in a sport (mid-season) even if they participated at another school if they meet one of the following criteria (a-f): Item (g) student(s) shall be ruled ineligible but have the right to appeal.
                  a. Children of active duty military whose move resulted from military orders
                  b. Children relocated due to foster care placement.
                  c. Children who move due to a court-ordered change in custody due to separation, divorce, or
                       serious illness or death of a custodial parent.
                  d. Authorized for good cause in district and or reassignment by District School Board.
                  e. Student(s) who apply for School of Choice prior to the start of the fall FHSAA athletic season, as listed on the FHSAA website, and are accepted within the first twenty (20) days of the start of the school year shall be eligible for athletic participation.
            f. A student who transfers schools, prior to the start of the official spring football approved start date, will be automatically eligible for spring football even if they participated in fall football at their previous school.
                  g. Student(s) who transfer schools, after starting a sport, shall be ruled ineligible in that sport, but have the right to appeal to the district Athletic Eligibility Committee to be considered for reinstatement of eligibility
                         
            The committee will have ten (10) school days to schedule and hear the hardship case.
                      The Appeal Committee shall be made up of the following;
                              Chief of Staff of Human Resources and Student Services
                              Two High School Principals whose school are not involved in the transfer of the student.
                              Representative from Student Services
                              Representative from District leadership team.    
                                     The Appeals committee decision will be final.

CONSEQUENCES FOR ATHLETIC CODE VIOLATIONS
Athletics is an extension of the classroom and below is an outline of consequences and violations of behavior in the following areas.

Felonies, Sale or Distribution of Drugs, Hazing, Bullying / Cyber Bullying, Falsification of required participation forms, and Discriminatory Acts.

                1^st Offense         -Suspension from activities for 365 calendar days.

            2^nd Offense        -Expulsion from all activities for the remainder of individual High School career.

Drugs / Alcohol / Theft
                1^st  Offense        -Suspension of 20% of the season.

            2^nd Offense        -Suspension for remainder of the season.

            3^rd Offense        -365 days suspension from all athletic activities.

Tobacco / Vaping
                1^st Offense        -Suspension for 10% of season.

May be reduced to 5% if the student completes the district issued Tobacco class and completes the free NFHS course “Understanding Vaping & E-Cigarettes”.

            2^nd Offense        -Suspension for 50% of the season.

            3^rd Offense        -365 calendar day suspension from all athletic activities.

A season is defined as being the total number of regular season contests plus the district playoffs. 

Note: Pre-season contest shall not count towards overall suspension and suspended student athlete may not participate in any pre-season contest.

If a fractional portion of the penalty is .5 the suspension will be rounded off to the next highest whole number (i.e, 1.5 moves to 2)

All suspended contests not served in the sport season in which the violation occurred will be forwarded to the next contest season. (i.e, A student suspended in a fall sport would have their suspension carried over to the winter sport if there are still games to serve for the suspension.)

Coaches are mandatory reporters:

Any coach, Paid or Volunteer, who has knowledge of any rule infraction including, but not limited to, items listed in the code of conduct shall report all issues to their Athletic Director and school Administration for a proper investigation to take place.

Failure of a coach and or Athletic Director to report any violation of the student code of conduct could result in suspension and or, if necessary, removal from all athletic coaching responsibilities.

The Athletic Director and or School Administrator shall notify the parents/guardian of the outcome of the investigation.