Eligibility

Athletics, Clubs and Organizations

Involvement is an important aspect of student life at BMCHS. Extracurricular activities not only add to the enjoyment of school life, but also permit development of broader insights and experiences in the academic, cultural, political, athletic and social areas. Extracurricular activities enhance the high school experience and enrich the community. Participation in some form of athletic and other extracurricular activity by McGuinness students approaches 90 percent.

While many of the clubs, organizations and athletic teams are governed by the standards set by the OSSAA, some may have established different criteria and grade point requirements for membership or executive board eligibility. Please contact the individual program sponsor as listed in the Clubs and Organizations section of the Campus Life page.

For questions or concerns regarding Eligibility, contact Mr. Gary Savely, Athletics Director at (405) 842 6638, ext. 240.

No Pass-No Play

At McGuinness, eligibility is the responsibility of the student athlete. A student will not be permitted to participate in extracurricular or athletic competition when failing academic course work.

Section 1 - Semester Grades

A student must have received a passing grade in five subjects counted for graduation during the last semester of school.

If a student does not meet the previous standards, participation may begin after the first 6 weeks of the next semester if passing all subjects at that time.

Section 2 - Student Eligibility During a Semester

Academic eligibility is checked on a weekly basis on the last day of the school week beginning the third week of each semester. The participant must be passing each individual class to maintain eligibility. If a participant has a failing grade, eligibility will be regained when the cumulative grade for the semester is passing. While academic eligibility is determined on a weekly basis, semester grades are considered separately for eligibility purposes for the next semester.

Once grade checks begin, a student failing any subject(s) will be placed on probation for one week. During this time, the student may continue to practice and play in any scheduled event, but will become ineligible to participate in succeeding weeks if failure in the same course or any course is recorded during the next week's grade check. A student may not be on probation two consecutive weeks.

Once ineligibility occurs, the penalty begins on the Monday following the grade check that recorded the continuing or subsequent failure. Academic ineligibility continues until the following Sunday. If on the next week's grade check the participant or athlete is now passing all subjects, eligibility is regained. At times, a test or other work will be turned in during the week or even on grade check day, but it as not been graded in time to refigure eligibility. The participant is still considered to be failing or on probation until the material is graded and if it does raise the overall grade to passing levels, the activity sponsor or Athletic Director will correct the situation. The individual sponsor or coach and the academically ineligible student athlete are to arrange a schedule for practice sessions which best serves the needs of the student athlete to regain eligibility. As a general rule, a student athlete will not be permitted to be excused from a class or classes for which they are on probation during the regular season. Exceptions may occur for the playoffs.

Christian Service Eligibility

Ninety Christian Service hours are a graduation requirement and all students will be expected to remain current during their four (4) years at McGuinness. At the beginning of each semester, an inventory will be done for each student. If he or she is short the number of required hours, he or she will have three (3) weeks to reach the required number. If at the end of the three (3) week probation period the student is still short, they will be athletically ineligible until the desired number is reached. During this time, the student may practice, but not compete, against another school.

Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior

1st Day 0 10 30 60

1st Day (second semester) 5 20 45 90

OSSAA Scholastic Eligibility

Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School is a member of the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association (OSSAA) and is subject to all its rules and regulations. Student eligibility can only be maintained by meeting the Association's requirements, making every positive effort in all academic courses, and fulfilling additional requirements of the individual activities' sponsors and/or coaches. In order to participate, students must:

Maintain amateur status as a participant or athlete
Maintain a passing grade in all required courses at the time of participation
Maintain eligibility relative to age and school district residency
1. Students reaching their 19th birthday before September 1st will not be eligible for any OSSAA activities or athletic competitions.
2. An entering 9th grade student coming from a Catholic grade school, Westminster or St. John's Episcopal is eligible. Those students entering from any school outside BMCHS geographic district, other private schools, or non-freshman from any school, are not eligible for Varsity athletics for 1 year from 1st day of attendance unless a hardship ruling is granted through the OSSAA. If deemed appropriate, the Athletic Director or activity sponsor will help the parents complete forms for a hardship eligibility request.
3. Students must have excellent school attendance (90% or better) to participate in practice or a scheduled event. A student athlete or activity participant who is absent more than two classes during a day may not participate in practice or contests scheduled for that day. Ninety percent attendance is figured by dividing the number of total class periods possible into the total number accumulated by the student. Absences due to sickness and other situations out of the control of the students or parents may be waived by the Principal/President, thus allowing participation. However, the Principal does not waive absences due to vacation time or personal choice. Every effort is made to minimize loss of school time for extracurricular and athletic purposes. Some activities and sports necessitate participants to miss school more frequently than others, and date, time and place of playoff contests are out of the school's control. It is the student's responsibility to ensure coursework is made-up and grades are maintained.

OSSAA guidelines state, "A student who is disqualified during a game or contest because of a flagrant or unsportsmanlike conduct shall be ineligible until reinstated by the Principal. It is recommended that a disqualified student forfeit the right to participate in at least one contest before he/she is reinstated by the Principal. A student whose flagrant or unsportsmanlike conduct consists of fighting, cursing or using foul language toward a game official will be automatically suspended from participating in a minimum of the next two regularly scheduled games or contests on the same level of competition that his or her team plays. Fighting is defined, but is not limited to, any player or non-player (bench personnel) striking an opponent with arms(s), leg(s), foot (feet), or other object(s), attempting to strike an opponent, biting or instigating a fight by committing an act(s) that causes an opponent to retaliate by fighting related to an OSSAA sponsored activity in which the players and non-players are participating. The fighting rule will apply to pre-contest and post-contest sponsored activities. It is mandatory that all sponsors and head coaches remind his or her team that fighting during the post game hand shaking ceremonies or conducting them in an unsportsmanlike manner after the game will be severely penalized. The head coach and team will be subject to additional suspension penalties beyond the normal penalties imposed on fighting and unsportsmanlike acts that occur during the contest."