Iowa Girls High School Soccer Player Ruled Ineligible

An Iowa girls high school soccer player has been ruled ineligible by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union after coming over to the United States from Germany.

Ankeny High School’s Julia Harris was hoping to hit the pitch this season. Instead, she has been forced to the sidelines to cheer on her teammates.

Harris was born and raised in Germany, according to a report by KCCI, but her father was born in the United States, granting her automatic U.S. citizenship. Since she has citizenship in the United States, she was not eligible for traditional foreign exchange programs.

Father's U.S. Citizenship Keeping German Transfer Student Off The Pitch

Instead, Harris came to Ankeny to live with her aunt to be classified as a transfer student. That means, according to IGHSAU rules on open enrollment, transfer students are ineligible to compete in interscholastic athletics for 90 school days.

The Iowa girls high school soccer season will be over within that timeframe, keeping Harris from competing with her new school.

“The IGHSAU has been in communication with the student’s family and school regarding this matter, and has provided a ruling,” the IGHSAU released in a statement to the site. “Due to student privacy considerations, we do not comment publicly on individual eligibility cases.

“Eligibility decisions are made in accordance with Iowa law and IGHSAU regulations to ensure fairness, consistency and a level playing field for all student-athletes. These rules are essential to maintaining the integrity of interscholastic athletics and preventing undue competitive advantage.”

Julia Harris Plans To Remain On Team Despite Not Being Able To Play

Harris made the move to the U.S. to improve her English, not to focus on a future soccer career. She did say she loans to continue to go to practice and games with Ankeny.

“This is the period where a lot of German students go abroad and learn English and improve it,” Harris said. “That’s what I wanted to do too, and soccer was part of that experience. And now I can’t really have it.”

The Hawkettes are currently 2-2, earning wins over Cedar Falls and Linn-Mar around losses to West Des Moines Valley and Waverly-Shell Rock.

Boys Soccer Team Caught With Ineligible Player Last Season

Last season, the Des Moines Hoover boys soccer team was forced to forfeit several games due to using an ineligible player. The student-athlete was a refugee from Sudan who was 20 years old, not 19 years old, as had been reported.

The Huskies were unbeaten through those eight games at the time and the top-ranked team in Class 3A of Iowa boys high school soccer.