CYO is a competitive sports league that has many Catholic parishes around the Archdiocese participating, therefore there are fundamental rules to avoid active recruitment by parishes and maintain the integrity of the various sports that the parishes participate in:

• Athletes do not need to be attending St Joseph School. Students who are home schooled or who are from other schools are welcome to play CYO as long as they are continually practicing their faith. PREP classes are one way to do this, but are not required.
• JV Sports are open to 5th & 6th graders; Varsity Sports are open to 7th & 8th graders; High School Basketball is open to students in 9th - 12th grade, but they CANNOT play for their high school team as well as CYO.
• All athletes should be attending Mass on Sundays and Holy Days. The basis of all religious instruction is the Liturgy of the Word and of the Eucharist. Attending religious instruction is always in addition to Mass attendance.
• ALL CYO ATHLETES are required to participate in the service project for their season and attend the CYO Mass in addition to weekly Mass.

Change of Residence

• Before the season starts: if an athlete moves out of his/her parish prior to the official start date of the sports season, the athlete is ineligible to participate with his/her former parish
• After the season starts: if an athlete moves on or after the official start date of the sports season, he/she may choose to participate with their new or old parish

Changing Parishes WITHOUT changing Residence

• Individuals or families that change parishes without changing residence will not be eligible to participate with the new parish for a period of one CYO year from the date of transfer. The waiting year does count towards a year of eligibility.
• The athlete may participate with their old parish program, or can participate on a limited basis with the new program (practices only, not game eligible)
• Once an athlete chooses to participate on a team at their new parish, he/she cannot participate for any teams at their former parish.

Exceptions

• If an individual’s Parish does not offer a particular sport, then the student-athlete may participate, for that sport only, with another Parish

AT NO TIME may a student-athlete participate for the same sport at two different CYO entities

Eligibility Violations

Athletes found to be non-compliant with any of the “Eligibility Standards” outline in this handbook may face the following penalties:

• Immediate discharge of the athlete from the violating team and the athlete will serve a one-year suspension from ALL CYO sports
• Forfeiture of any competition in which team participated with the athlete

 

Regardless of which Church your family attends, the Archdiocese is very strict about players only signing up to play CYO Sports at the school/parish within the boundaries of their home address. There are exceptions to this rule only with approval from the Region, not St. Joe's CYO.