THESA Eligibility Requirements
Note: THESA (Texas Home Educators Sports Association, Inc.) is an athletic program designed for Middle School and High School homeschooled students. Middle School includes grades 6 through 8; High School includes grades 9 through 12.
1. A player shall become ineligible to play on any THESA-sponsored sport on the next September 1st following that player’s 19th birthday (anyone age 19 or older on September 1 of the current school year).
2. For middle school teams, no middle school player shall be eligible who is 15 as of September 1 of the current school year. The minimum age requirement is 11 as of September 1 of the current school year. Note: A high school player is ineligible to play on a middle school team.
3. For High School teams, a player shall become ineligible after 4 years of Varsity team participation. Players must be 14 years old on the date of September 1 of the current school year to play on a Varsity team. Eighth grade students who are at least 12 years old on the date of August 1 of the Fall semester are eligible to play on a sub-varsity level team with approval from the Board or Sport Coordinator (exception- eighth grade players may participate in post season varsity activities in the event there are not sufficient numbers of varsity players for the post season event without effecting their 4 years of varsity eligibility). In no event can a player participate for more than 5 years on a High School varsity level team. Senior’s that do not qualify for a varsity team may participate on a sub-varsity team upon approval from the coach and Sports Coordinator.
It should be further recognized by the parents and coaches that some regional or state sanctioning bodies, and their associated schools, may deem eligibility to begin the year a player first plays on a high school team, making an eighth grader ineligible to play his senior year in the event that such a student wishes to later play for a public or a private school governed by these rules.
4. A player must be living at home with a parent or guardian.
5. A player must be homeschooled. “Homeschooling” is defined to mean that a student’s education is parent-directed. Parent-directed education is defined as the parents defining the course materials, curricula, schedules, and other requirements for the student with the intent for the student to graduate high school. As such, parents can choose many options for completion of their established educational requirements for their student including selecting co-op classes, dual-credit college classes, tutors, correspondence courses, videos, on-line courses and similar resources for their student’s education.
Players who attend small, private institutions without athletic teams may be eligible to participate under certain conditions.
THESA encourages the player’s education requirements to meet or exceed local and state regulations for academics and if the player wishes to participate in collegiate athletics to meet all NCAA educational requirements during high school.
6. A player is ineligible if that player has gone through a homeschool, public school, private school, or Christian school high school graduation ceremony prior to that season's first game.
7. A player may be deemed ineligible if that player enrolls or is enrolled at any time in more than 9 hours of Dual Credit college courses during any semester term. A course that is classified as Dual Credit allows a student to earn both high school credit and college credit at the same time.
8. A player cannot play on another homeschool, public, private, or Christian school team in the same sport at the same time as playing on a THESA-sponsored team.
9. If a player started the season on another homeschool, public, private, or Christian school team, no transfer shall be allowed during the season without the approval of the THESA Board.
10. A player must be a member of THESA.
11. Exceptions to any eligibility requirement may be made only by express approval of the THESA Board. No exceptions will be permitted to the upper age limitations.
12. Players must be in academic good standing at all times during the sports season to participate on a THESA team.
13. Players starting on a higher level team may not participate on a lower level team (i.e. a varsity starter may not participate on a sub-varsity team; a JV starter may not participate on a freshman team). Exception is when the sub-varsity team needs additional players for the contest due to a shortage of sub-varsity team members and for development of players at a different position.
14. Players must be in adequate physical condition to participate on any THESA team. A yearly physical examination signed by a physician is highly recommended. (See Athlete Handbook)
In addition, please see the Athlete Handbook for more details.
By submitting an Athlete Application you are certifying that you meet all of the eligibility requirements to be a THESA athlete and will immediately notify your coach if you become ineligible for any reason.