Transfer Question - Need help!

Hi all,

I have a family that is very close, and they reached out to me with some questions, and I was unsure of them so I wanted to ask here. Here is the situation.

My friends DD plays D2 softball in Ohio. The family is going through some health problem with the mom. So they would like their DD to transfer closer to how Indiana.

She has been granted her release from the school in OH, but needs to contact the school in Indiana she wants to transfer to, to see if she can get a spot on the roster and play.

The family believes that they can't have any contact with the school/coach in IN. They asked me to reach out to the coach, and see if she can get a tryout.

Can they talk to the coach/school, or do I need to reach out for them? How should I go about get a hold of the coach e mail or call?

Any help, advice is greatly appreciated, I feel for this family and what they are going through, so I really want to help if I can.

Thanks for your time!

HS players are allowed direct contact from college coaches after Sept 1st of their junior year. Before that players can contact the coaches, but the coaches cannot contact them back. Therefore, it should be perfectly acceptable for this college aged player to contact the coaching staff directly and I would advise her doing so. She needs to be her own best advocate.

JAD said:

HS players are allowed direct contact from college coaches after Sept 1st of their junior year. Before that players can contact the coaches, but the coaches cannot contact them back. Therefore, it should be perfectly acceptable for this college aged player to contact the coaching staff directly and I would advise her doing so. She needs to be her own best advocate.

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Great! Thanks! She wasn't sure if her contacting the school before her release would be in violation of NCAA rules.

I'm not sure either.

You need to get permission from the current school to talk to the new school.

NCAA Transfer Guide

■ Talk to the school you are interested in attending so that you are sure you understand all you have to do to
be admitted both academically and athletically. Talk to the staff in the admissions office, athletics department
or athletics compliance office. But before you call, understand that you will probably need to get written
permission-to-contact from your current school before you have a conversation with the new school. See
Know when you need to get permission to talk to another school on page 9.

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Here is the full publication
https://www.ncaapublications.com/p-4361-ncaa-transfer-guide-2014-15.aspx

Once the release is granted, the athlete can contact any college coaches. But the college coaches cannot speak with them until they receive a copy of the release. So if the kid contacts a college, the first thing the college coach should ask is for a copy of the release. That release has to be sent from the original institution.

Call and talk to Vince at the NCAA Legislative Branch in Indiana - he's been great all fall with a D3 to D2 transfer. He's walked us through step by step!


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There are 2 different releases when it comes to transferring between 4-year schools. One is getting permission to talk to other schools and the other is for the one-time transfer exception so she doesn't have to sit out a year (i.e. residency requirement).

Added: If she transfers to a school in the same conference, they may/probably have a rule requiring her to sit a year.

As long as she has her release, she can talk to any coach. However, be aware, they will ask for a copy of the release probably before they will talk to her. My DD transferred this year from D1 to another D1. There is the one time exception transfer which will allow her to play immediately and not sit a year. Good luck!