Homeschool Sports Eligibility in New Jersey
Only with local board approval. New Jersey gives homeschoolers no right to public school sports, but the state athletic association lets a homeschooled student play when the local board of education approves and its homeschool guidelines are met.
How homeschool participation works
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) bylaws require an athlete to be enrolled in the member school. Their one exception covers home-schooled students: they may be eligible if the local board of education has approved their participation and the requirements of the NJSIAA Homeschool Guidelines are met.
The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) says a board may allow curricular, extracurricular, and sports participation at its sole discretion. Boards decide differently, and some district policies say outright that homeschooled children are not eligible.
Once approved, a homeschooled player has the same rights, privileges, and responsibilities as every other athlete at NJSIAA member schools. A homeschooled student can appeal an adverse NJSIAA decision to the Commissioner of Education.
Rules that decide participation
Board approval and residence
The local board approves homeschooled students on its high school teams, and your child lives in the district that serves the high school, with proof of residence under chapter 6A:22 of the New Jersey Administrative Code.
Written request to the principal
You submit a written request to the principal of the member school for your child to try out.
Equivalent education
You meet with school officials to show that your child is receiving an academically equivalent education.
Academic credit rule
You give the principal satisfactory evidence that your child meets NJSIAA's academic credit rule and the school's own academic policy.
Same rules as other players
Your child meets the school's physical examination, insurance, age, and behavior requirements and every NJSIAA rule, including amateur status, recruitment, semesters of eligibility, and transfers.
Before the season
First step
Ask your district whether its board policy admits homeschooled students to high school teams; if it does, send the principal your written tryout request.
What can rule a player out
A student who leaves a public school for homeschooling while academically, behaviorally, or otherwise ineligible is treated like a student who transferred for athletic advantage and cannot compete.
When to start
Start before the season, because the equivalency meeting and the academic evidence come before the tryout.
School that fits around the season
Lessons start at your child's level and go wherever practice and travel do. We grade the work as it is submitted and keep the grades and transcript a school or league may ask to see.
$149/month per child after the trial.