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PinellasFB, I hear what you are saying.   But how can the FHSAA restrict or limit transfers in light of the state legislature's mandate regarding school choice?    I don't often come to the defense of the FHSAA, but on this particular issue, it seems to me that they are in between a rock and a hard place.   As for the cap proposal, let me lay out a hypothetical for you:  you're the coach of a public high school in Pinellas County that is making some progress . . . at the beginning of the summer, you find out that four kids have transferred into your school - each for his own legitimate reason.  Not studs, but kids that might be able to help your team.   Then, out of the blue, right before school starts, Joe Stud's dad gets a job offer and his family moves down from Ohio into your district.  Under your proposal, if you let Joe play, your school will get kicked into the open division and you will likely give back all the ground you've gained over the last few years.  But if you make Joe sit out a year to preserve your status quo in the district, you can rest assured that Joe will go somewhere else.  What do you do?

Even more fun fact.  These public schools that take in transfers are always the same few schools.  MNW, Central, Venice, and few newcomers like Booker and West Boca etc.  There are wayyyyy more public schools than those few that you are referring to.

But what they do is to enforce strict recruiting and transfer rules.  The only want fair play.

There is no published data that compares how many transfers go to public vs. private high schools in Alabama.  But the AHSAA explicitly cited eligibility disputes tied to transfers into private schools as a reason for restructuring their classification and playoff system. But to your point, it is true that public schools receive more transfers than private schools in states where data is readily available on the destination of transfers, such as Texas, California, Georgia, and, yes, Florida.  The data and empirical observation also support the view that private schools receive a higher percentage of high impact/top-tier/elite transfer talent.     

Fun fact. Public school accumulate and stockpile much more football transfers than privates do on average.