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As is tradition at Murphy, there are five senior banners for the five seniors on the Lady Bulldogs’ volleyball team. Four have seen playing time this year, with Tailor Jenkins being the only one who hasn’t – and not for a reason you may think.
Jenkins attended Murphy High School as a freshman, and through high school has always lived in the Murphy district. Her mom, who works with Cherokee County Schools, was transferred to Andrews starting with her sophomore year.
Jenkins then attended Andrews High School for her sophomore and junior years since she couldn’t drive then. After getting her license, she decided to transfer back to Murphy for her senior year.
Jenkins’ transfer was signed off on by both high school principals, which could have cleared the way for her to play at Murphy this fall. That’s when the issue came up.
According to the N.C. High School Athletic Association, if a student transfers from one member school to a different member school in the same public school unit (in this case Cherokee County), then they have to sit out 365 days for athletic participation. The association may approve a transfer request if it is a student’s first time, and as long as it’s not for athletic purposes.
Public school units are allowed to create guidelines for immediate athletic eligibility for transfers, but Cherokee County does not. Instead, the county’s student transfer policy is to refer to the rules set by the state association regarding athletic transfer.
That means since this is Jenkins’ second transfer, she is not allowed to play sports at Murphy this year.
To add insult to injury, Jenkins did not play for Andrews last year due to a knee injury, and she did not play sports at all for the Lady Wildcats. She has not played a varsity sport since her sophomore year, so it has already been more than 365 days since she’s played a varsity sport, even though those 365 were spent at Andrews instead of Murphy.
While I understand the rule is a rule, it feels like there has been no empathy shown in this situation. This was not a move done for athletic purposes.
If it was all about athletics, Jenkins would have stayed at Andrews and be wearing red and black for her senior year. Instead she’s still sitting on the bench in black and gold, finishing her time in high school with the kids she grew up with before moving at the beginning of her sophomore year.
Sometimes life comes with hard lessons, but this feels like a case of the county putting up an unnecessary roadblock. High school already comes with enough challenges, especially senior year.
This is the first time many kids have to try to figure out what they want to do with their future, and is the final chapter with many of the same people they have been around for the last four, seven or even 13 years. That camaraderie extends to sports, where almost everyone is parting ways with the game at the end of a season.
School is supposed to prepare young people for the real world, but it also should provide the best experience possible for students. Punishing an athlete over an initial move that happened for circumstances outside of their control doesn’t do that.
It’s one thing for someone not to be able to play due to an injury. It’s another to not be able to play due to bureaucratic stubbornness.
While this specific case has been decided, there are ways to make this a better process in the future. The state association says school districts can make their own transfer rules. It’s time for Cherokee County to do this, and it doesn’t need to be complicated.
The county already gives exceptions for a kid to go play a sport that another school doesn’t offer. That could be one rule, and another easy one would be something the state already allows, which is letting kids play who have a bonafide move into the county from somewhere else.
The hard part would be figuring what other exceptions to potentially make, as well as what the process would be. The goal should be to try to get as many kids in sports as possible, as long as they move for the right reason.
That’s something that appears to be lost in this situation. Instead of throwing up barriers to participation, it’s better to encourage it.
Justin Fitzgerald is the Cherokee Scout’s sports writer. Call him at 828-837-5122, Ext. 18, or email sports@cherokeescout.com.