Valencia County schools oppose NMAA transfer rule change
Valencia County schools all voted no on a rule that gives New Mexico athletes one free transfer and immediate varsity eligibility. The change passed statewide 67-60.
Belen, Los Lunas and Valencia all opposed the New Mexico Activities Association’s one-time transfer rule, even as member schools approved it 67-60 and set it to begin with the 2026-27 school year. The policy, already cleared by the NMAA Commission and Board of Directors before the referendum, lets a student transfer once in high school and compete right away without sitting out.
For Belen Consolidated Schools Superintendent Lawrence Sanchez, the issue went beyond athletics. He said the district did not believe the change was best for high school sports in New Mexico and argued that academics should stay the priority. Sanchez also warned about recruiting pressure and about school sports drifting toward a college-style transfer culture, concerns that hit especially hard in smaller communities where one roster change can alter an entire season.
Los Lunas Schools said it would keep working with the NMAA so families can be guided through the updated process. One Belen coach said the advantage would go to bigger schools, while Los Lunas football coach Stephen Johnston said transfers could turn into a “wild, wild west” if moving becomes too easy.
The rule is not a free pass for every move. It applies only to a student’s first transfer. A second or later transfer still brings a 365-day varsity sit-out unless it falls under one of the NMAA’s exceptions, including a bona fide residency change, deceased parents, state custody, a first parent-to-parent move, emancipated or married status, boarding school, deployed parents, a student who did not participate in a program or a discontinued program.
Recruitment and undue-influence rules remain in place, along with home-school and charter-school statutes. Foreign students entering without parents and students transferring out of a specialized sports academy are excluded from the free-transfer provision.
Sen. Antonio “Moe” Maestas filed a bill in 2026 that would have shifted eligibility decisions to the Public Education Department, but it was not heard.
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