Middle School Activity Guidelines & Eligibility

It is the mission of the ICCSD Activities Department to inspire each student to extraordinary achievement every day.

• Provide comprehensive activity programs that emphasize the development of lifelong learning, values, and skills through hard work, sportsmanship, ethical conduct, and fair play.
• The program is based upon open communication and mutual respect among school administration, instructors, coaches, sponsors, directors, students, parents, and officials.
• The program serves as a positive, powerful, productive force for our schools, community, and most importantly, the student.

To provide attractive programs for the students:

• Provide the student with an enjoyable and rewarding experience
• Make student safety and welfare our highest priority 

To give quality instruction in the fundamentals of each activity offered:

• Specific skills and strategies
• Sportsmanship, ethical conduct, and fair play

To be an integral part of the secondary school curriculum:

• Inspiring all students to give their highest effort in the classroom, as well as in their activities

To stress the importance of self-discipline in the school, the community, and the activity

• Teach students that dignity, self-worth, and self-esteem are achieved through hard work

To create a positive school climate enhanced when students in activities and the remaining student population work together as a team to represent their school in an interscholastic competition.

• Develop concepts of goal attainment through hard work and rigorous self-discipline, and provide a vehicle for the development of interest in curricular school programs and post-secondary educational opportunities

To make the activities program a source of both district and community pride:

• Help each student to interact positively with faculty, community, and fellow students
• Make the program a positive influence on all who come in contact with it

To demonstrate the social competence of operating within a set of rules, thus gaining a respect for the rights of others, and an understanding that penalties follow rule violations.

Eligibility Rules for Middle School (Grades 7 & 8)

1. Students will have an opportunity to participate in a school activity unless the activity is not offered or the student cannot participate for disciplinary reasons. 
2. It is the responsibility of the principal/administrator to develop regulations for each school activity. These regulations will include, but not be limited to, when physical examinations will be required, how and when parents or guardians will be informed about the risk of the activity, academic requirements, and proof of insurance on the student participating in certain activities. 
3. The principal shall keep records of violations of the Good Conduct rule. The administration has the right and the power to impose additional penalties or consequences in response to serious violations of the School District’s policies and rules or community laws.
4. Special education students or students covered by a Section 504 plan shall not be denied eligibility on the basis of scholarship if the student is making adequate progress, as determined by the student’s team, toward the goals and objectives in the student’s IEP or Section 504 plan.
5. A student is expected to attend one-half school day based on their schedule, immediately before the competition or practice, to be eligible to participate in a practice, competition, or performance scheduled on the same date, unless otherwise authorized by a principal or designee.
6. Students placed on out-of-school suspension will not be allowed to practice or compete in contests during the suspension period.
7. Other rules, as determined by administration, may apply and may not be listed here. Please reach out to your school’s administrator.

Eligibility Rules for Junior High/Middle School (Grades 7 & 8)

1. When a student enters 7th grade for the first time, they are automatically eligible academically. A student may have eligibility in grades 7 and 8 during only their first four semesters of attendance and before their sixteenth (16th) birthday. An exception can be made by request to the Board of Control. 
2. No 7th or 8th grade student shall be permitted to compete in an interscholastic athletic contest involving any students below 7th grade or above 8th grade. 
3. Students below 7th grade shall not participate in interscholastic practices with, or against, students in the 7th grade or above.
4. The status of eligibility at the 7th and 8th grade level with regard to sportsmanship will be handled in the same manner as is prescribed in the IHSAA Articles of Incorporation for grades 9 through 12 [280.36.14(2)].
5. The principal shall determine when a student is eligible academically and also rule on all transfer cases at the junior high level.
6. Any student who desires to participate in interscholastic athletics must have a medical examination before their first practice and participation. The certificate of medical examination is valid for one calendar year. A grace period not to exceed 30 days is allowed for an expired pre-participation physical examination. 
7. The student and their parent/guardian must also receive and sign the concussion and brain injury information sheet entitled HEADS UP: Concussion in High School Sports before their practice and participation. The signed information form is valid for one calendar year. Unlike the physical examination, there is no grace period, and the signed concussion and brain injury information form is only valid for one calendar year. 
8. Eight graders are eligible to practice with high school baseball and softball on the first legal day of practice and may compete in high school baseball and softball on the first legal high school playing date, even if school is still in session.
9. A student who participates in the name of a member school during the summer following eighth grade is INELIGIBLE to participate in Varsity Athletics in the name of another member school for the first 90 school days of 9th grade unless an exception to the General Transfer Rule occurs [281.36.15(3)].

Local Boards of Education may adopt regulations which are more restrictive than those of the IHSAA/IGHSAU. The superintendent has the authority to exclude any athlete from participation in a contest for violation of such regulations. The superintendent’s authority is absolute, and the Board of Control shall not review such action.