Transfer restrictions unfair to athletes,

Transfer restrictions unfair to athletes,

This is an editorial response to your Aug. 28 Conejo-Las Virgenes Sports Beat, "Westlake Attracts Athletic Transfers on Merit."

The issue of high school football transfers, which applies to high school sports in general, certainly needs to be addressed among the Marmonte League. We fully agree, "…that if you live in a neighborhood, you should go to that school and play with your friends."

However, it is not always possible for those who live in Westlake Village due to the way the school boundaries are set. Kids have the opportunity to participate in youth sports, such as Pacific Youth Football at the Westlake High School fields, Westlake Baseball at the Westlake elementary fields or National Junior Basketball at the Westlake High School gymnasium.

When it comes time to enter high school, the student athletes who live in the Los Angeles County side of Westlake Village and are accustomed to being on Westlake youth teams with their friends must attend Agoura High School which is farther away than the local Westlake High School.

It is important to point out, as The Acorn did, that Westlake High School attracts many school transfers, not because of athletic recruitment, but rather—and to Westlake High’s merit—it has developed and fostered a strong winning athletic program.

Our sons have played over 10 years for Westlake youth sports. They naturally want to continue to play for Westlake because that’s where they live, who they have played for, where their friends are and it’s in our neighborhood. We bring this up to help explain the desire to attend a high school other than the one required.

We filed an out of district school transfer and it was a very difficult, almost impossible, process. After months of paperwork, we received an out of district transfer. The catch—no CIF participation for four years. The reason and unjustly so—athletic recruitment.

Westlake High deserves the respect and credit that many transfer requests are filed because it offers athletic and academic excellence. Unfortunately Westlake High School has been falsely accused of actively recruiting.

It’s a shame that another school district would restrict a child from participating in athletics and limit the full high school experience, because sports in itself is educational.

Tami and Scott Burnett

Westlake Village

The Marmonte League in cooperation with the individual school districts decided to reduce the competitive elgibility of transfer students to discourage "athletic transers." The exception, of course, is when a family actually moves into another school district. There’s no loss of eligibility when that happens.