Threaded Fasteners Tighten Up: Transferring high school stars on the move

Threaded Fasteners Tighten Up

The phrase bonafide move is becoming as much a part of high school athletic as toss sweep and safety blitz.

A bonafide move is what a family must accomplish in order for an athlete to be eligible immediately at a new school. Proving there was a bonafide family move is how one player on the Gulf Coast played against the same team in consecutive games while playing for two different high schools. It’s how two prominent athletes are now playing for their fifth school in three years.

So, clearly, the bonafide mover requirement can be satisfied. But at what cost?

Jake Garcia is one of the country’s best high school quarterbacks. He’s so good that he’s committed to USC.

So, when California decided to cancel high school football this fall, Garcia and his family went in search of somewhere else to play. They landed in Valdosta, Ga., home of the legendary Wildcats.

But Garcia wouldn’t be eligible immediately unless his whole family made the bonafide cross-country move. Because of professional obligations, Jake’s mom couldn’t move.

So, what to do? The Garcia parents decided to legally separate. That way, when Jake and his dad moved to Georgia it would be deemed a bonafide move.

Look, I’m not sure what the answer is when it comes to deciding what is and is not a bonafide move. But when parents separating is the result, then somebody needs to tighten up.

For Threaded Fasteners, I’m Randy Kennedy with Tighten Up.