A proposal that will restrict the athletic eligibility of students who transfer past their freshman year of high school is headed for a second reading before the PIAA board next week.

The rule change also has the tentative support of at least one PIAA district.

PIAA District 7 (WPIAL) representatives recently proposed a rule that would make any student who transfers after the start of his ninth-grade school year automatically ineligible to play varsity sports for one year. There are only a few, narrow exceptions, according to WPIAL executive director Tim O'Malley — mostly for employment changes.

Currently, students who transfer from one PIAA school to another can be deemed athletically ineligible for a number of reasons, including "material gain" — a phrase that replaced the former "athletic intent" rule.

However, many transfers that resulted in an ineligibility ruling at the district level have been overturned upon appeal by the PIAA.

One eligibility case that was not overturned on appeal by the PIAA was upheld Thursday by a federal judge in Pittsburgh.

Sam Brownlee, a sophomore, was declared ineligible for wrestling after transferring from Mount Lebanon to Canon- McMillan. The WPIAL and PIAA ruled that he transferred because doing so would have aided his career.

U.S. District Judge David Cercone upheld the ruling, saying there was no proof that not wrestling this season would cause Brownlee irreparable harm.