Athletic Eligibility
Athletic Eligibility
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Student is eligible to participate at the school to which he/she is assigned by the local board of education.
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Student must live with parent(s)/legal custodial guardian.
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Student must have passed at least (70) percent of the courses taken during the previous semester.
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Student must be in attendance at least (85) percent of the previous semester. (All absences count for 2nd semester eligibility) See more details under "Attendance Requirements" below
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Student must be on track to be promoted to the next grade level. (This includes English)
CCS Athletic Handbook (opens as a Word document)
Attendance Requirements
In accordance with CCS Policy 3620, to be eligible for athletics, students must pass their required courses and attend 85% of the semester's school days.* Specific instructional day count is listed below. If a student accumulates more than ten unexcused absences in a class, then the class becomes a Forced Failure (FF) and the student would not receive credit for the course. In most cases, a FF attendance issue will lead to an academic issue, making a student ineligible.
Scheduled Day Count
- 2023-24 S2: 91 days (may miss 13 days) - Eligibility for Fall 2024
- 2024-25 S1: 78 days (may miss 11 days) - Eligibility for Spring 2025 (new rule)
- 2024-25 S2: 80 days (may miss 12 days) - Eligibility for Fall 2025 (new rule)
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For the first semester of the 2024-2025 school year, local school systems will determine its attendance policies for athletic eligibility.
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Attendance eligibility for the second semester of 2024-2025 will be based on the 85% rule statewide.
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The “new” attendance rule will require attendance during at least 85 percent of total instructional days in the prior semester. Exam days ARE considered instructional. All absences, excused or unexcused, are calculated.
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Mitigation of an absence for FF will not mitigate the absence for athletics. An absence is an absence.
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Academic Requirements
Excerpt from the NCHSAA handbook:
1.2.7 Scholastic Requirements - A student must be in good academic standing to be eligible to participate in interscholastic athletics.
(a) A student other than a home school student is in good academic standing if:
(1) The student passed at least seventy (70) percent of the courses taken in the preceding semester; and
(2) According to the membership entity's standards, the student is on track to advance to the next grade level or graduate within the next calendar year.
(b) A home school student is in good academic standing for purposes of this rule if:
(1) The student passed all courses in which the student was enrolled at the member school in the preceding semester; and
(2) The student is on grade level according to a nationally standardized achievement test(s) indicating grade level.
(c) A student who is promoted from eighth grade to ninth grade shall be deemed to have satisfied the requirements of Rule 1.2.7(a)-(b) for the first semester of the ninth grade year.
(d) A student not academically eligible at the beginning of the semester is not eligible at any time during the semester. Exception - a student who receives an incomplete which causes him or her to fail to meet minimum scholastic requirements or is awaiting a final grade due to any state-mandated testing is ineligible until the course is satisfactorily completed, and eligibility is restored immediately.
(e) At the end of the first semester, a superintendent or principal has eight days (excluding Saturday and Sunday) to check grades of students, removing such students immediately upon knowledge of ineligibility and no later than the completion of the eight-day period and restore eligibility to any debarred player after he or she has qualified at the end of a semester.
(1) Any student who has his or her eligibility restored may participate the day following the completion of the semester of the ineligibility.
(2) The purpose of the eight-day period is to allow schools ample time to check grades. A player should be removed before the eight-day period is up if the school has knowledge and has verified that the student is ineligible.