NJSIAA continues probe of Timber Creek football
A "reconfigured" legal team continues to review information on the Timber Creek Regional High School football team, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association announced Monday.
The NJSIAA is "reviewing all available information related to Timber Creek Regional High School and complaints that out-of-district students had attended the school and represented it in interscholastic athletic competition," the statement said.
NJSIAA executive director Steve Timko indicated that a "health issue" involving a member of the organizations' legal staff has delayed the review of the Timber Creek program.
"There are a significant number of files that need to be assessed," Timko said in a statement. "Our reconfigured legal team will take the time required to complete this process and then inform us of its findings.
"From there, we'll make a formal report to the NJSIAA's own executive committee."
If Timber Creek is found to have used ineligible players, the team could be subject to forfeiture of games played this season as well as in past seasons -- including the school's South Jersey Group 4 championship in 2015.
Timber Creek (7-0) is the No. 2 team in the Inquirer Top 25 rankings.
The Chargers are the defending South Jersey Group 4 champions. They will enter this year's tournament, which starts Nov. 11, as the favorite to capture the program's fourth sectional title since 2011.
NJSIAA associate director Larry White, who has directed the organization's investigation of the Timber Creek matter, declined to comment on Monday.
White said at the NJSIAA's executive committee meeting on Oct. 12 that the organization was leaning toward developing a "Corrective Action Plan" with the Black Horse Pike school district with regard to residency and transfer issues at Timber Creek.
The NJSIAA's announcement on Monday was the latest development in a saga that began in May, when an anonymous group that calls itself S.T.O.P (Stop Taking Our Players) sent a 13-page letter accusing Timber Creek of illegal recruiting and residency violations to the Camden County Prosecutors Office and the NJSIAA as well as media outlets.
The prosecutors office announced Sept. 9 that it was closing a three-month investigation into the Timber Creek program, indicating that no criminal charges would be filed but that "residency descrepencies" have been uncovered and would be forwarded to the NJSIAA.
At the time, Camden County Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo said that "all evidence associated with residency rule violations will be forwarded to the state's governing body of high school athletics for review."
On Sept. 14, White confirmed that Timber Creek has "self-reported" the transfer under questionable circumstances of two student-athletes who enrolled at the school in the summer.
One of the students was held out of Timber Creek's first four games after it was determined that there were issues with his "residency" according to White. He has played in Timber Creek's last three games.
The other student has been declared ineligible for the entire school year by the Black Horse Pike school district because it determined that he transferred for "athletic advantage," according to White.
That student appealed to the NJSIAA's Eligibility Appeals Committee, which upheld the school district's ruling after a four-hour hearing at NJSIAA headquarters on Sept. 30.
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