At all times pertinent to this hearing, the Appellants have resided in Elk Point, South Dakota. Their son, Joseph ["Joe"], was a 16-year-old tenth grader at Heelan, where he wanted to compete in football, wrestling, and track and field. For grades kindergarten through fourth grade, Joe attended St. Peter's, a nonpublic Catholic school in or near Elk Point; for grades fifth through ninth, he was enrolled in public school (Elk Point-Jefferson), his district of residence in South Dakota.

The Currans stated that they chose Heelan as the school to which Joe transferred for religious reasons. This characterization was supported by a letter submitted by Mr. Geary to the IHSAA in which he pointed out that Joe's father and three of four older brothers were graduates of Heelan. The exception in the family is Joe's older brother Tim, who attended and graduated from Elk Point-Jefferson public high school. Mrs. Curran testified that Joe did not start Heelan as a ninth grader because Tim was then a twelfth grader at Elk Point-Jefferson, and it was more convenient to have both sons attending the same attendance center.Mr. Saggau did not dispute the reasons given by the Currans as the motivating factors behind Joe's transfer.

IHSAA relied on 281 IAC 36.15(3), the general transfer rule, when it determined that Joe is ineligible to compete at Heelan for 90 consecutive school days.The Currans argued first that, because Elk Point-Jefferson was neither a member nor associate member of the IHSAA, this transfer was not covered under the transfer rules in 281?IAC chapter 36. No one questioned Heelan's status as a member school of IHSAA. They stated that Joe is eligible immediately because his transfer is not regulated by the rules. Their second argument was that, assuming the transfer was covered by the rules, an exception should be granted to Joe because he transferred for reasons unrelated to athletics.

. While we believe that such reasons may form the basis for waiving the period of ineligibility, this is not that case. The educational path chosen by Joe's brother Tim notwithstanding, the Curran family appears to take its commitment to a Catholic education seriously. The family may indeed have been a "Heelan family." However, this was not a situation where a family that deeply desired a spiritually-centered education for its child was deprived of that opportunity. Joe could have transferred to Heelan prior to his 9th grade year, but did not do so for reasons of convenience for the family. We did not criticize that reason, but note that family convenience has never been recognized by this agency as a reason to grant relief from the 90-school-day period of athletic ineligibility. Although the evidence does not demonstrate that Joe's reasons for transferring were motivated by school jumping or recruitment for athletic purposes, the transfer rules were applicable and controlling because the rules were reasonably related to achieving the IHSAA's purpose in deterring school jumping and recruitment.

That the decision of the IHSAA that Joseph Curran is ineligible to compete in interscholastic athletic contests and competitions for 90 consecutive school days at Bishop Heelan Catholic High School was AFFIRMED.