Disabato: Koziol ruling sends the right message

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Koziol

Updated: November 4, 2011 7:15PM

Literally hundreds of student-athletes transfer from one high school to another in any given year.

Some are academically or financially motivated, others are family situations, including divorce.

Then there are student transfers that revolve strictly around sports, only they’re rarely revealed as such.

That’s hardly a shock. Transferring for athletic reasons is an IHSA violation and grounds for a student to be ruled ineligible to participate in sports.

But, hey, read between the lines in many cases and it’s apparent those transfers owe to a kid wanting to play for a more prominent and successful school team.

Tai Streets, who played at Michigan and in the NFL, transferred to high-powered Thornton from Rich South for his senior season in the mid-1990s. People speculated, but nothing ever was said on record or verified. Funny, though, Tai’s younger sister, Aja, attended and graduated from Rich South a few years later.

Families generally don’t reveal their true intentions for a transfer.

That is, unless you just can’t help yourself.

When Ed Koziol announced his son, Ryan, a three-year varsity baseball player at Brother Rice, was transferring, he cited the reason for his son’s exodus as Rice having “by far the worst facilities in the Catholic League,” adding, “we don’t like the baseball facilities at Brother Rice.”

There are numerous reasons to legally transfer schools — but a bumpy baseball field isn’t one of them.

The IHSA’s “Philosophy Underlying IHSA Eligibility Rules” states “Standards governing eligibility are a necessary prerequisite to participation in interscholastic athletics, because ... they keep the focus of educators and students on the fact that students attend school to receive an education first and participate in athletics second; ... and they prevent ‘district hopping’ or ‘shopping around’ for schools or athletic programs which may suit an individual’s personal interests.”

It’s clear, based on Ed Koziol’s statements, that Ryan’s transfer was athletically motivated. I can’t say for certain, but, baseball facilities be damned, if Brother Rice had finished 23-6 instead of 14-15 last season, Ryan Koziol likely still would be a Crusader.

Instead, he’s at Providence, which just so happened to finish 37-4 and second in Class 4A last season.

The IHSA on Tuesday ruled Ryan Koziol ineligible to participate in sports.

The ruling was necessary when Brother Rice principal Jim Antos refused to sign off on the transfer on the IHSA’s Principals Concurrence Form. IHSA bylaw 3.043.4 states principals must concur with transfers such as Koziol’s as a condition of eligibility.

Rice’s reason was that the transfer was made purely for athletic reasons.

The Koziols are expected to appeal the IHSA’s decision, which is their right. They will be allowed to plead their case to the IHSA Board of Directors, most likely in October, according to IHSA executive director Marty Hickman.

If the board reverses Hickman’s ruling, it will set a precedent and open Pandora’s Box for any disgruntled student-athlete to transfer based purely on his or her sports experience.

Additionally, it would allow a coach to actively recruit a player from a competing team: “We have a better team, come play for us.”

The Principal’s Concurrence Form was devised to prevent this type of nonsense.

Most parents, however, don’t possess the ego of Ed Koziol, who couldn’t resist hammering the school that provided his two boys with a quality academic and athletic experience.

“The bylaw is working the way it’s supposed to work,” Hickman said. “It’s exactly why we have the rule that the principals have to concur. Brother Rice feels the transfer is athletically motivated.”

I know what some are thinking: Why should Ryan Koziol, a senior, be punished for father’s actions?

I feel bad for Ryan. He’s a good kid, an honor roll student and a heck of a baseball player. Ideally, he would be basking in the spotlight of his senior season before heading off to the University of Arizona.

But this case is not only about breaking rules, it’s about sending a message.

Let’s not forget that Brother Rice fit the criteria for Ed’s oldest son, Kevin, a 2010 graduate, and for three years, Ryan. Is it just coincidence that Ryan is transferring after the first losing season in Rice’s history?

I don’t think this is what Knute Rockne meant when he said, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”