Member to Member Program

Criteria

• Member high schools that are interested in developing a program must submit a written request for participation on another member school’s team to the VPA Assistant Executive Director sixty days before the start of each sports season to allow adequate time for reviewing the application. The VPA will only approve requests that satisfy all of the criteria of this program. Requests submitted with less than a sixty-day notice will be considered and acted on as soon as possible.

• Priority to requests will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• • • Receiving-school in the same county that has a demonstrated need for their program.

• • • Receiving-school outside of the county that has a demonstrated need for their program and is within comparable distance from programs within their county.

• • • Receiving school from within the county that has the desired program, but may not have needed as based on the complement of players in section (j). If there are multiple receiving schools in the area, the highest priority will go to the receiving school with the greatest need.

• As part of the application, there must be a written agreement between each participating school that has been approved by the respective principals and athletic directors. Receiving (or host) schools may enter into multiple agreements in a sports season, as long as the total number of students does not exceed the 20% allocation of students from other member schools. Sending schools may enter into only one agreement per sport. The agreement must specifically authorize participation in this program.

• The agreement must state that the schools have considered compensation from the sending school(s). Compensation could be in the form of an exchange of opportunities in other programs or any other form that the schools agree to. If compensation is agreed to, the agreement shall describe the compensation. Financial compensation, if any, shall come from the school.

Requirements

• This program only applies to team sports (i.e., Baseball, Basketball, Bowling, Cheerleading, Dance, Esports, Field Hockey, Football, Hockey, Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Ultimate, and Volleyball). Students can continue to participate as individual competitors in all other sports under existing standards. Schools may enter into an agreement provided that no student/athletes have been cut at any level in that sport (cut meaning out of the program).

• The athlete(s) must meet all eligibility and student conduct requirements otherwise established by VPA rules and the involved schools.

• There must be no athletic recruitment of the student-athlete. No coach, booster, or persons involved with the athletic department should directly or indirectly solicit students from other schools for this program. This means that a coach or school employee who receives a direct inquiry must immediately refer the inquiry to the appropriate school administrator.

• The sending school(s) may not offer the team sport in which the student wishes to participate. If a sending school has previously offered this team sport, they are ineligible to participate in this program for two years from the date the team was dropped.

• In sports in which the VPA sanctions separate championships for boys and girls (Basketball, Ice Hockey, Lacrosse, and Soccer), a student may request participation if the student’s school does not offer the sport to his or her gender. (All schools should provide athletic programs that provide appropriate opportunities to both genders).

• Schools involved in a Member to Member Agreement must be members of the VPA.

• There must be no displacement of student-athletes from the receiving (host) school sponsoring the activity from spots on the team. Thus, the receiving school sponsoring the team must maintain a no-cut policy for the program in question or have less than the normal complement of players required for a team who is enrolled in the sponsoring school. Students accepted under a Member to Member program may participate at any level of the team that the receiving school offers.

• Two schools may reach an agreement for a particular sport before a season begins, however, the agreement will not take effect until the first day of the sports season when it has been determined that there are available slots.

• Schools may enter into a Member-to-Member Program for sub-varsity teams as long as there is no displacement at the JV or freshman level.