Last Updated on January 19, 2024 by Michelle Ball
By Michelle Ball, Sacramento California Expulsion, Special Education, sports/CIF, College, Education and School Attorney/Lawyer for Students since 1995
Should you do it? Should you lie on a CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) form as really, after all, no one will find out? Or will they? The consequences for withholding, lying to, or misrepresenting facts or information to CIF can be devastating for a high school student athlete.
CIF Requires Honesty and Complete Information
Per CIF Bylaw 202, parents , school officials, the student and others must ensure that any information given to CIF in regard to student sports eligibility is true and complete. No lying.
Up to Two Year Ban for Lying
If a parent, guardian or caregiver provides inaccurate, false, or incomplete information to CIF, a student may be banned from playing sports for up to two years.
The same holds true if a coach or school official lies or misleads CIF, even if the student athlete and their parents were unaware of the misrepresentation regarding the student. The student can still be banned from sports.
Sports Contests Forfeited
If it is found lies or misleading information were provided, any sports competitions, games, championships, etc. in which the student participated may end up forfeited.
This could mean, for example, that if CIF discovers a student athlete was allowed to play as a transfer student, but facts were not fully revealed about the student, any championships or games won where the student played may no longer be credited to the high school.
This can be devastating to a student and a school.
Teams May Be Disqualified
If a parent or school representative lied, or provided fraudulent or misleading information for a team to be qualified for athletic competition, the entire football, basketball, track, swim etc. team may be banned for a full season by CIF.
The Moral of the Story: Don’t Lie to CIF
Often it is tempting to “forget” to report something that may disqualify a high school student from playing in an upcoming varsity season (for example after a transfer).
However, although providing the true data may mean a student is out of varsity skiing, basketball or soccer for a year, providing false information or neglecting to provide complete data to CIF can result in a worse penalty which sees the student out of all sports for up to 2 years.
The moral: don’t lie or withhold information from CIF.
CIF student lawyer Michelle Ball helps families across California. As an education attorney in Sacramento, Michelle can address sports, CIF, discipline and other student issues border to border, from San Francisco to Roseville to Los Angeles, Fresno, Auburn, Suisun City and beyond.
