By Austin Spears
A major change could soon be coming to Texas High School sports with the proposal of House Bill 619. This bill, proposed by Texas House State Representative Barbara Gervin-Hawkins from District 120 in San Antonio, would allow high schoolers to transfer for the purpose of athletics without penalty. The law stipulates that each athlete would only be able to do this once, and it would have to be to a different school district from their current high school. As long as the student’s guardians sign off on the transfer, neither the previous nor future school district can block the transfer, giving the student autonomy. This law would be a monumental change in the scope of high school athletics in Texas. Historically, students have been eligible to transfer for academic reasons but never for athletics. This bill protects athletes from the usual penalties they would receive from the University Scholastic League (USI) if they were to transfer.
Gervin-Hawkins hopes the bill will allow students more opportunities to receive collegiate scholarships and be successful in their future athletic careers. In an interview, Gervin-Hawkins said, “For me, sports are important for our youngsters. It really truly can be a vehicle out of poverty… I’m concerned that we are holding kids back that could move forward.” She intends for the bill to give athletes of all skills who may not be in the best position for their athletic growth an avenue to find a situation that suits them best.
The idea behind the bill is it can help a multitude of students in various positions. A student who is a very capable athlete but maybe not the best at his position on his team would receive less playing time than they would at a different school. A perfect example of this was on display in college football this season, North Texas walk-on Drew Mestemaker started his first game at quarterback since the 9th grade in their bowl game against Texas State. Mestemaker went to high school in Austin, Texas, and was forced to play safety and punter in high school because he happened to be behind an even better QB. Mestemaker likely would have benefited greatly from the new transfer rule, allowing a clearly competent quarterback to transfer to a school he would start at. Another situation where this rule would be useful is for a star player on a bad team to transfer to a better team where they’ll have a better chance of getting recruited to college.
This is Gervin-Hawkins’ third attempt to file this bill after previously being stiffed by coaches and athletic directors in previous legislative sessions. The opposition has stated concerns over the rise in recruiting this bill would lead to, but Gervin-Hawkins has countered by saying that recruiting already happens even though it is technically banned. She commented on working with the coaches and athletic directors, saying, “If we’re blessed with getting it passed, I would love to sit down with the coaches’ association and work through what they believe would be a good model to follow.”
This bill is the natural evolution of a process started by the NCAA in 2021. Until that year, college athletes were required to sit out at least one year after transferring for athletic purposes, but the governing body’s rule change allowed athletes the ability to transfer one time without punishment. That rule has further evolved and now allows athletes to transfer an unlimited amount of times without punishment, as long as they’re in good academic standing.
This time frame is a monumental one for amateur sports as a whole. Beyond just the new transfer rules in the NCAA, the collegiate landscape has been reshaped in the past five years due to the legalization of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rights among nonprofessional athletes. This shift has given amateur athletes unprecedented power, allowing them complete autonomy over their money and playing career. Further legal decisions within the past year have ruled that playing in junior college does not count towards your NCAA eligibility, theoretically paving the way for college athletes to have nearly decade-long careers.
Player empowerment first swept through professional sports with the allowance of free agency, then to the NCAA with unlimited transfers, and now potentially to high school sports where athletes could have complete control over their athletic careers.
The bill requires a two-thirds majority vote from the House to pass; if it does, it could go into effect as early as Sept. 1, 2025. Gervin-Hawkins believes it’s vital to give all Texas high schoolers a chance to be successful. We’ll soon see if the rest of the House agrees.
Austin Spears is a junior Sport Management major at UT Austin. He is currently an analytics intern with the Texas Longhorns baseball team and plans to pursue a career in sports law.
