High-profile players hopscotching from team to team has been a major issue plaguing New Jersey high school sports, and the latest proposal is an attempt to curb the problem once and for all.
The much maligned state transfer rule may be getting some new teeth.
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s special public/non-public committee produced a proposal this week seeking to strengthen and simplify the controversial rule for New Jersey high school athletes across all levels of play.
The proposed changes include:
- Requiring all athletes that transfer schools — freshman, junior varsity and varsity — to sit out 30 days or half the games allowed — whichever is less — for each sport in which they participated the previous year at the prior school.
- Requiring athletes who transfer on or after the first scrimmage or after the NJSIAA-approved regular season start date to be barred from state tournament play, in addition to incurring the mandatory 30-day or half the season sitting out period.
- Requiring all athletes who transfer schools more than once to be barred from state tournament play, while also incurring the mandatory 30-day or half the season sitting out period. The penalty would be enforced for each transfer after the first switch.
The current transfer rule requires athletes who switch schools without a “bona fide change of residence” to sit out of competition 30 days. The new proposal would eliminate the “bona fide change of residence” loophole that coaches and athletic officials say has been exploited by families who use inauthentic addresses that schools have neither the means nor expertise to verify on their own.
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The new proposal also would not be open to appeals.
“It’s pretty clear that the way the rule is currently constituted we can’t consistently and effectively administer it,” said NJSIAA project manager Mike Zapicchi, who co-chairs the special committee. “What we’re trying to do is address a number of concerns that have come to us and to our member schools. One is kids going back and forth from school to school. The second is open transfers. The third is kids and their parents actually shopping programs to figure out which is the best for them athletically.”
The proposal will be presented to the NJSIAA’s Executive Committee Jan. 11 at the organization’s monthly meeting in Robbinsville. If it’s endorsed and approved over two readings, the rule will go into effect July 1 and in time for the 2017-18 school year. The Executive Committee also could chose to send the proposal to a vote of the full membership in December, meaning implementation could be delayed until July of 2018.
The special committee already produced one proposal to change the transfer rule in 2015, but it was resoundingly voted down, 244-99. That proposal sought to strengthen the rule to include a mandatory 30-day sitting out period and state tournament ban for all varsity athletes who transfer schools, except those who move from a closed-enrollment school to another closed-enrollment school with a bona fide change of address.
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The concept was “too complicated,” according to Zapicchi.
“This is our second crack at it,” he added.
Zapicchi said the special committee has been analyzing the transfer issue for more than a year and considered all options, including an open transfer policy that would have allowed athletes to switch schools without penalty.
In recent years, athletic officials say transferring has become one of the biggest issues affecting high school sports in New Jersey and around the country. During the 2014-15 boys basketball season, NJ Advance Media identified 27 high-profile boys basketball transfers across the state. Last season, the number of big-time boys basketball players identified swelled to at least 37. Some of the top players even transferred three times.
Other sports such as football, girls basketball, wrestling and soccer also have seen increases in athletic-based transfers, coaches and officials say.
The transfer rule also came under new scrutiny late last year when the powerhouse Wayne Hills High football team was disqualified from the playoffs by the NJSIAA and then allowed back into the postseason after a special hearing over the eligibility status of three players who had switched schools.
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The rule also was criticized last spring when No. 1-ranked Major League Baseball prospect Jason Groome of Barnegat High was ruled ineligible after transferring back to his neighborhood school from a Florida boarding school, which did not amount to a bona fide change of residence because he did not move with his parents.
Ultimately, Zapicchi said the special committee decided attempting to curb transferring could have a beneficial impact to both the athletes and teams.
“It affects them academically,” Zapicchi said. “Kids who switch multiple times before the end of their school career are generally a year behind their counterparts in reading and math. The other thing is, it’s really affecting the integrity of the game as we know it.”
The new proposal could penalize innocent athletes who transfer schools for legit reasons, but Zapicchi said the committee tried to walk a fair line.
“The 30-day sit is the shortest sit in the country. Twenty-four states have one-year sits,” Zapicchi said. “During that 30-day sit, they can still practice and participate in all team activities. So they get the bulk of the positive benefits of being on a team, but they can’t compete. It allows us to exert some kind of control over not only the high profile athletes, but the multiple athletes.”
Matthew Stanmyre may be reached at mstanmyre@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattStanmyre. Find NJ.com on Facebook.