RESIDENCE: A student is eligible to participate at the school to which he or she is assigned by the local board of education, within the administrative unit of residence. “Residence” as used for athletic eligibility purposes is defined as the equivalent of the term ”domicile“ as applied by the courts of North Carolina. under no circumstances can a student have more than one residence for eligibility purposes. It is the obligation of the school to know the residence status of each athlete and to require compliance with these requirements.

Except as otherwise provided, the residence of any student shall be deemed to be that of his or her parents or the sole surviving parent.

In the event the parents are separated or divorced, the residence of the student shall be that of the parent to whom custody has been awarded by a court of competent jurisdiction. If no custody order has been entered, the residence shall be deemed to be that of the parent who had actual custody immediately upon the separation.
Any change in residence must be bona fide. Determination of what constitutes a bona fide change of residence depends upon the facts of each case. In order for a change of residence to be considered bona fide at least the following facts must exist: (1) The original residence must be abandoned as a residence; that is sold, rented or disposed of as a residence, and must not be used as residence by any member of the family; (2) The entire family must make the change and take with them the household goods and furniture appropriate to the circumstances; (3) The change must be made with the intent that it is permanent.

Transfers within the same administrative unit may be governed by local Board of Education policy. A student transferred from one administrative unit to another by mutual agreement is immediately eligible for athletic participation in the receiving unit.

No non-parental guardianship will be recognized where a student has a living parent unless: there has been a determination of abandonment of the student by such parent(s) or a determination that the student is a dependent juvenile as defined in G.S.7A-5 17(13) or comparable statute by a court of competent jurisdiction; or the student has been judicially declared a ward of the court or has been identified as an orphan or placed in a foster home by the Division of Social Services (or a comparable agency if out of state) and custody (not guardianship) has been determined by the court or social service agency. A student whose custody has been established by court order or social services agency decision is eligible for participation at the school to which he or she is assigned by the Board of Education of the local unit where the custodian resides.

The residence of a student who is emancipated shall continue to be his or her residence as of the time of emancipation, unless an exception is granted under the procedures established by the Hardship Rule.

The residence of a student who is in an organized and recognized foreign exchange program shall be considered to be the place to which he or she is assigned by that program, and is eligible to participate at the school to which he or she is assigned by the local education agency.

Foreign students who are not part of an organized and recognized foreign exchange program must present extenuating circumstances through the procedure established in the Hardship Rule. A foreign exchange student is eligible only during the first year of residence in the united States. With the exception of this residence rule, foreign exchange students are subject to all other eligibility requirements, including but not limited to, the prohibition on participation after graduation or eligibility for graduation from high school.

In no case will any exception be made to the following principles:
• No student may participate at a second school in the same sport during the same sport season, except in the event of a bona fide change in residence of the parent(s) or legal custodian; change of schools must be contemporaneous with change in residence.
• Documents purporting to establish guardianship or custody issued by a notary public, an attorney, a clerk of court, or any entity other than a court of record with competent jurisdiction will not be accepted.
No student shall be subjected to undue influence by an individual or group of individuals to induce or cause him to transfer from one school to another for athletic purposes. If allegations of recruiting are made against a school, the burden of proof in substantiated form must be borne by the accusing party. Allegations of recruiting that are substantiated will be processed as infractions under the penalty code.

For the purposes of this rule, “undue influence” consists of actions taken for the purpose and intent of soliciting or encouraging the enrollment of a student-athlete in a school, including but not limited to the following:
-initiating or arranging communication or contact of any sort (letters, email, phone, etc) with a prospective student-athlete or member of his or her family
- visiting or entertaining a prospective student-athlete or member of his or her family
-providing transportation or arranging for same for a prospective student-athlete or member of his or her family to visit a school or meet with anyone associated with a school
-providing verbal or written material, slide, film or tape presentations to a prospective student-athlete or member of his or her family which states or implies that a school’s athletic program is superior to that or any other school with the purpose or intent of soliciting or encouraging the enrollment of the student in that school, or that it would be advantageous for any prospective student-athlete to participate in athletics at that member school as opposed to any other school to use non-school athletic teams as a vehicle to solicit or encourage a prospective student-athlete or a member of his or her family to enroll the student-athlete at a different school.

The above applies to any individual who coaches at an NCHSAA member school, head or assistant, paid or non-paid, faculty or non-faculty, parent volunteer, etc., as well as any other persons formally or informally associated with a school’s athletic program.

The residence status of any student whose parent(s) do(es) not live in the administrative unit must be identified on the eligibility list as prescribed on the back of that document.