NJSIAA proposes tougher rules on transfers

In a move designed to "restore the integrity of high school sports," an New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association committee is proposing a significant change to the organization's transfer rule.

Under a plan developed by the NJSIAA's Public/Non-Public committee, all student-athletes who transfer from one school to another will be subject to a 30-day period of ineligibility.

The proposal, which will be presented to the NJSIAA's executive committee on Wednesday, eliminates the "bona fide change of address" clause in the existing transfer rule that has proven difficult for the organization to enforce.

Currently, athletes who transfer and prove a "bona fide change of address" are eligible to play immediately at their new school.

"We're an association of high schools," said NJSIAA project manager Mike Zapicchi, chair of the Public/Non-Public committee. "We're not an independent investigative body.

"The 'bona fide change of residency' piece of the exisiting rule, the NJSIAA simply cannot effectively and consistently enforce that part of the rule."

The change will take effect July 1 if endorsed on two readings by the NJSIAA's executive committee.

Zapicchi said the Public/Non-Public committee has worked for "the better part of two years" to try to address the "constant flow of transfers" that have impacted competitive balance in high school sports.

Many of those transfers have involved what the committee calls "high-profile" athletes in sports such as football and boys' basketball.

In an explanation sent to officials of the organization's 436 member schools, the committee wrote that "you need only to pick up a newspaper each day to see that transfers for athletic advantage continue to be an issue for New Jersey high school sports."

The explanation noted that in each of the last three years, around 1,500 of the NJSIAA's total of 280,000 student athletes submitted a transfer form but that a "disproportionate number" were "high-profile" players.

The new proposal also is designed to limit multiple transfers as well as transfers after the start of a season.

Any student athlete who transfers a second time will be subject to the 30-day ineligibility period and also will not be allowed to participate in the state tournament. The same restriction will be placed on an athlete who transfers after the first scrimmage.

Under the proposal, there will be no appeal process.

Zapicchi said there was "a lot of discussion" within the committee with regard to the rule's punitive impact on the vast majority students who transfer for reasons other than athletic advantage.

"We realize this might be viewed by some as a draconian measure," Zapicchi said. "But we felt like we need to do this to get the amount of kids who transfer for athletic advantage under control.

"We felt like the constant flow of transfers has hurt the integrity of high school sports and we needed to address that."

-- Contact Phil Anastasia at panastasia@phillynews.com

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