Aspiring athletes attending Ohio public high schools will have additional opportunities to compete during the 2026-27 school year following the implementation of the state's new Student Athlete Mobility (SAM) Act.
As reported by Gary Adornato of Sports Illustrated, the Ohio High School Athletic Association notified member schools that the new law — which takes effect this school year and supersedes an OHSAA membership vote on the issue held earlier this year — expands participation opportunities for certain public school students whose schools do not sponsor a particular sport.
Under the SAM Act, a student attending a public high school may petition to participate in a sport at a neighboring public school if the student's own school does not offer that sport. However, OHSAA officials emphasized that the law is not an open-enrollment policy for athletics and includes several important restrictions.
Among the key provisions, per Adornato's reporting:
- The law applies only to students attending public high schools and does not apply to students enrolled in OHSAA-member schools serving grades 7 and 8.
- The student's school of attendance must not offer the sport the student wishes to play.
- Students may only seek participation at a neighboring public school, as defined by state law.
- Participation requires approval from both school superintendents — the superintendent of the student's school of attendance and the superintendent of the receiving school.
- If either superintendent denies the request, the student is not eligible to participate at the neighboring school.
The law also allows schools to combine teams if each school does not have enough athletes to field a team on their own. "Not having enough players is defined as not having the minimum numbers to occupy each position on the field or court, plus half that number available to fill the bench, rounded up to the next whole number," Adornato reported. "For example, a baseball team would be considered to not have enough players if it had less than 14 players."
Schools reaching an agreement under the new law are not required to submit paperwork to the OHSAA, but students participating under the SAM Act will still be expected to meet the same OHSAA standards required of other student-athletes.
