Navigating Florida’s Transfer Rules: Honest Game’s Impact on Hagerty High School
At Paul J. Hagerty High School in Seminole County, Florida, managing the high volume of student transfers and ensuring academic compliance has always been a significant challenge. With the state’s dynamic student-athlete landscape, schools like Hagerty face constant pressure to track eligibility, manage data, and ensure that each student stays on the path to success.
This is where Honest Game stepped in to make a difference.
Enhancing Transfer Management in Florida Schools
Florida’s student transfer rules often create hurdles for school athletic departments. Florida has both expanded school choice and wide open transfer rules, which means students can transfer and play immediately at their new school without sitting out for a specified time period. Students are at a greater risk of academic ineligibility in Florida because every school in the country has a unique list of NCAA Approved Classes. These Florida-specific challenges were only compounded further in 2024 by the approval of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) by the Florida High School Athletic Association.
After 26 years as either an Assistant Athletic Director or an Athletic Director in the state, Jay Getty, Hagerty High School’s Athletic Director and Cross Country & Track and Field Coach, has seen it all. He knows the influx of transfers locally requires careful monitoring to ensure students meet the academic criteria to participate in sports and to graduate.
“Transfers in Florida are an interesting endeavor – we are as wide open as it gets. The high school transfer portal is real in Florida. We just had one [student] leave [Hagerty] last week – this will be that student’s 4th school in 4 years. So if any of our kids are going to move that often, the ability to track and manage courses, if they’re coming first from out of district, is really important… Our involvement with Honest Game has been a huge blessing for us.”
Honest Game’s software provided a game-changing solution for Hagerty High School. By automating the academic eligibility process, Honest Game has allowed the school to efficiently navigate the complexities associated with student transfers. This automation ensures that each transfer student is quickly assessed for compliance with NCAA requirements, helping to prevent any eligibility issues from falling through the cracks.
Academic Compliance is Not So Complex Anymore
Beyond managing transfers, Honest Game has played a vital role in maintaining academic compliance across the board. Hagerty High School now has a centralized system that provides accurate, up-to-date information on each student-athlete’s academic status. This has reduced the burden on counselors and coaches, who previously had to manually track and verify academic eligibility, and it has also improved information sharing district-wide.
Jay Getty highlights how Honest Game’s data-driven approach has been instrumental in mitigating communication and process issues state-wide.
“Our student services team are ecstatic about this product [Honest Game] – being able to log in, pull a kid up, hit print and and share information in real time with them to say, ‘this is where we stand’. Our interface with Honest Game and continually updating our NCAA portal with courses has been phenomenal. I’ve been relaying information to the district office as to how impressed we have been. For Honest Game to be able to find the additional courses that you found and add those to our systems to the benefit of our athletes has been great.”
A Culture of Success
With Honest Game in place, Hagerty High School is not just managing compliance; it’s fostering a culture where academic success is as valued as athletic achievement. Student-athletes are now more aware of their academic requirements and have access to the tools and guidance needed to stay on track. This proactive approach has helped empower students to take ownership of their academic journey, ensuring they are prepared for success beyond high school.
Hagerty High School’s success with Honest Game serves as an inspiring example for other schools in Florida facing similar challenges. By integrating this innovative software, they have demonstrated how schools can effectively handle the complexities of the transfer portal and academic compliance, ultimately leading to better outcomes for all students.
Set up a meeting with one of our experts to learn more about how Honest Game can support your students, school, or district.