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Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed into law a new rule for West Virginia high school students transferring for sports on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (Photo by Getty Images)
Rules for certain high school students transferring for athletics are changing in West Virginia following the recent legislative session.
The West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission has adopted a new rule that student-athletes transferring during their freshman or sophomore years will retain eligibility, while transfer restrictions remain in place for upperclassmen.
It’s a change to the controversial high school sports transfer rule, put in place by lawmakers in 2023, that allowed all high school students to transfer schools at any point in the year and play immediately. The bill, which became law without Gov. Jim Justice’s signature, has been blamed for depleted sports teams and lopsided football scores.
Lawmakers this year reversed course, passing House Bill 4425 to repeal the transfer rule and allow the WVSSAC to make their own rule on the matter. Debate on the measure went on for hours in the House of Delegates before they passed it with a vote of 78-19. It passed the Senate with closer margins than usual — a vote of 20-14 — in the almost all-Republican chamber.
On Tuesday, Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced he signed the bill and applauded the WVSSAC “for adopting a more flexible and balanced student-athlete transfer rule” following the passage of House Bill 4425.
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Del. Marty Gearheart, R-Mercer
“The SSAC is adopting a more flexible, common-sense approach,” Morrisey said in a news release. “This new rule makes improvements to the previous policy — giving families greater flexibility while protecting competitive integrity and strengthening the communities that rally around their homegrown athletes. That is why I am proud to sign House Bill 4425 into law today.”
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Del. Dana Ferrell, R-Kanawha
Bill sponsor Del. Marty Gearheart, R-Mercer, told West Virginia Watch, “I’m glad he signed it. It was the right thing to do.”
The governor’s office, according to the news release, engaged with WVSSAC leadership in recent weeks to encourage a more nuanced and flexible standard following legislative changes to the state’s transfer statute.
The new rule applies to all student athletes, including those participating through homeschool and scholarship programs.
Del. Dana Ferrell, R-Kanawha, has urged lawmakers to undo the transfer rule, saying it had negatively affected high schools in his area.
“I’m excited and thank the governor for using sound judgment in helping us correct bad policy that has plagued prep sports the past three years,” Ferrell posted on social media. “I believe I speak for the overwhelming majority of sports fans that are fed up with the transfers in mass and just want to preserve scholastic sports as a last bastion of playing for the love of the game.”
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