As of 2011, 22 states maintained equal-access laws requiring public school districts to allow home-schooled students to participate in extracurricular activities, including athletics. In these states, students must often submit to eligibility criteria that put them on-par with their public school peers. Although specific requirements vary across states, in general, students must demonstrate compliance with home school laws, show satisfactory progression in their programs and adhere to age and residency guidelines. For students outside the 22 states with equal-access laws in place, participation is determined by either the individual school or local school district.
Home schoolers wishing to play high school athletics must check to see if they also require permission from the local conference within which the school competes. If this regional body does not allow home schoolers to join teams at member schools, it is unlikely the specific school will flaunt this ruling and permit an unaffiliated student on the roster at the risk of being penalized. Regional conference rules designed to bar dropouts and poor performers from enrolling solely for sports can also prevent academically satisfactory home-schooled students. As these groups are private, legal action has not been overly successful in forcing them into opening admission.
Beyond public school teams, high school-age athletes can participate in sports via other organizations. The Amateur Athletic Union offers a highly competitive arena for players who are interested in taking their games to the next level by competing against the best players nationwide. In addition, independent travel teams within many sports require tryouts and then travel widely around a geographic region to ensure the most skilled players the chance to play against each other. In addition, many states have established home-school athletic associations that provide opportunities to play sports without public school involvement.
Although many parents argue that all students should have access to the athletic opportunities afforded to public school students, there are equally as many home-school families opposing such inclusion. Advocates say home schoolers are not denied access to taxpayer-funded locales such as the library or park, and therefore, they have just as much right to join public school extracurricular activities. Conversely, parents against equal access argue that nothing comes for free from the government, and with guaranteed eligibility comes additional regulations and restrictions that infringe on the freedoms and rights that home-school families enjoy in educating their children themselves.