NJSIAA to hear eligibility appeal of Timber Creek football player

The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association will hold an emergency hearing of its Eligibility Appeals Committee on Friday to consider the case of a Timber Creek High School football player who has been declared ineligible by his own school district.

The athlete is one of two Timber Creek students whose transfers to the school under questionable circumstances were self-reported by the Black Horse Pike School District to the NJSIAA in early September.

At the time, NJSIAA associate director Larry White said one of the players was found by the school district to have transferred without a "bona fide change of address" and the other was found to have transferred for "athletic advantage."

The player whose transfer involved residency concerns was declared ineligible by the school district for 30 days and will miss the football team's first four games, White said.

The player whose transfer was regarded as a move for "athletic advantage" was declared ineligible by the school district for the entire school year, White said.

The NJSIAA or Black Horse Pike school district has not identified either student. The Inquirer is withholding their names as well.

The student who was declared ineligible for the school year has appealed to the NJSIAA.

In a statement on Tuesday, the NJSIAA said "the association's Eligibility Appeals Committee -- which is comprised of member schools -- will hold an emergency meeting on Friday to consider the appeal of a current Timber Creek player.
"Because this appeal involves a minor, ths type of information we can share is extremely limited."

Dan Long, attorney for the Black Horse Like school district, confirmed Tuesday that he will attend the hearing along with superintendent of schools Dr. Brian Repici.

Repici was unavailable for comment.

Long said the NJSIAA had requested representatives from the school district attend the meeting.

The appeal is unusual because in almost all cases, it's a student-athlete's former school that has taken action that results in ineligibility in the event of a transfer of questionable circumstances -- usually by checking a box on the NJSIAA's Transfer Form to indicate there was evidence that the student changed schools for "athletic advantage" or was "recruited."

In this case, it's the student athlete's current school that will be across the table  at the eligibility appeals committee hearing at the NJSIAA's headquarters in Robbinsville, Mercer County.

The appeal is the latest twist in a months-long saga involving the Timber Creek football program.

On Sept. 9, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office announced that it was ending a three-month investigation into the Timber Creek program without pressing charges against anyone associated with the school or program.

At the time, the CCPO announced that it had uncovered "residency descrepencies" and was forwarding those findings to the NJSIAA.

The NJSIAA has confirmed receiving that information late last week but has indicated it will need time for "review and assessment" before deciding whether to forward the matter to a committee for a hearing in advance of possible sanctions.

In Tuesday's statement, the NJSIAA said, "as previously noted, NJSIAA has received information from the Camden County Prosecutor's Office that has been gathered during the past several months. Needless to say, NJSIAA takes this matter very seriously and will take all the time necessary for review and assessment."

Timber Creek's football team is 3-0 and ranked No. 2 in South Jersey in The Inquirer's Top 25.

The Chargers have a bye this weekend and return to action Oct. 7 at Eastern.

-- Contact Phil Anastasia at panastasia@phillynews.com

-- Follow @PhilAnastasia on Twitter

Click HERE to read more Jersey Side Sports posts.