Virtual eligibility questions answered

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
With COVID-19 reducing confidence that all students will participate in face-to-face learning in the classroom throughout the year, questions have arisen regarding athletes’ eligibility to participate in sports. 
Though homeschooling is not a novel situation anywhere, and those students have always had the opportunity to be part of their local high school teams, if students opt out of attending school in person, will they still be able to participate in school sanctioned sports?
Ron Laird, commissioner of the Wyoming High School Activities Association, recently clarified this issue. 
According to Laird, if a student is using a virtual format from one of the three Wyoming Department of Education approved virtual schools, they must fill out the WHSAA Affiliate Virtual School Membership Form and pay the $100 fee in addition to the $7 catastrophic insurance fee per student. The students are allowed to practice after their paperwork has been approved through the WHSAA office.
The three approved schools include the Wyoming Virtual Academy, K-12, run through Niobrara County School District No. 1, Wyoming Connections Academy run through Big Horn County School District No. 1 or the Cowboy State Virtual Academy run through Sheridan County School District No. 1.
Laird continued by stating that if a student is attending school remotely, or through online learning provided by the school, they are still considered a student of the school, therefore no extra measures must be taken to participate.
Weston County School District No. 1 has a long history of home-school students taking part in sports at the middle school and high school, so this is nothing new, and Laird’s statement simply solidifies that when it comes to sports, nothing is going to change for home-school students at NHS because of the coronavirus.