Steve Hockstein | For NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The wild wild west
The NJSIAA Executive Committee passed a new transfer rule Wednesday that will drastically change the high school sports landscape.
Under the new rule, any athlete that transfers will be forced to sit 30 days or half of the games allowed for the sport. Additionally, athletes who transfer on or after the regular season start date or athletes that transfer multiple times in a season will be barred from state tournament play.
This new rule comes after several high-profile cases -- like the one that rocked Wayne Hills this fall -- shed a light on a growing problem in multiple sports across the state. Here's what coaches, athletic directors, critics and supporters had to say about the new rule. (Patrick Lanni | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
Jerry McCrea | The Star-Ledger
Joe Piro, Nutley Athletic Director and President of the NJSFC
As a member of the public/non-public committee, Piro (at right) was one of the leaders behind identifying the problem and creating a solution.
“What this rule does is that it lays a strong foundation to move things in the right direction. If you don’t put in something that says all or nothing to build that foundation, it’s going to continue to be the wild wild west.”
More from Piro...
“There’s going to be some collateral damage. I get that, but it’s a 30-day sit and then you’re back to business. We’re losing sight of what high school athletics is. Athletics is an extension of the classroom. It’s a part of the educational process. It’s a tool we use to empower our students and help them get ready to perform in a global society. It’s not a quest for a championship. This is not the NBA where Lebron James doesn’t think he can win a championship in Cleveland so he goes to Miami.”
Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal
Rich Hansen, athletic director and football coach at St. Peter's Prep
Like Piro, Hansen is a member of the public/non-public committee, which crafted the new rule.
“The problem is that the perception of movement isn’t really the reality of movement, but when movement does occur it’s high-profile athletes doing it in an unscrupulous way. It’s shines a bad light on the process. The key thing with this is that we’re making it simple. It’s cut and dry. Some unfortunate situations will get caught up in it but 30 days is not excessive.”
More from Hansen...
“The bottom line is that we always talk about well it comes down to morals, ethics and standards with our colleagues, and I’m personally not willing to stake any kind of faith in that. I think it’s the wild, wild west out here, and if you don’t impose restrictions on yourself, you’re always going to be looking for a way to circumvent the rule. That’s why I think the greatest part of this rule is that it’s definite, it’s simple, there’s no appeal and everyone knows what the penalty is up front. There’s less room for cheating and now it calls you out as a school -- what do you stand for, what are you going to do and how are you going to conduct your business.”
Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal
Benjie Wimberly, Assemblyman and football coach at Hackensack
Wimberly argues that the rule disproportionally affects urban athletes, particularly those with unstable family situations. He is pursuing legislation to change the rule.
• Read more on Wimberly's argument here.
YouTube
Scott Rosenberg, athletic director at Kinnelon
“I don’t think that this step is per say in the right direction. I’m glad that (the NJSIAA) is finally taking some serious action. I don’t think this is the best way to approach it though. I’ve always been a big believer that a majority (of transfers) are legitimate. The majority of the transfers are because kids are moving, kids are going to a school for academic reasons and I think this hurts the average kid. This hurts the freshman that has nothing to do with sports, it hurts the JV kid and it hurts the varsity kid that isn’t transferring for the wrong reasons."
More from Rosenberg...
"I do think that (the NJSIAA) thinks they are doing what’s best. The only credit I can give them is that I don’t think they’re doing it to hurt kids. I think they’re doing it because they think it’s the best. I just think they are misguided and wrong."
Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Chris Chavannes, Principal and boys basketball coach at Patrick School
"My thought is that it didn't resolve anything. The people on the committee haven't a clue about what the real issues are. Therefore, you can't fix something properly without knowing why the problem exists. After 30 days then what? So every kid sits 30 days and at the end of the season the same teams are dominating?"
George McNish | For NJ Advance Media
Dave Boff, boys basketball coach at Roselle Catholic
"In my opinion there are some positives and negatives to the new rule but for the most part I think it will be a good change. I like that it is the same for all schools because kids transfer in and out of all schools, not just non-public. I also like that there is a severe punishment for the in-season transfer which hopefully stops the emotional transfer over playing time etc. The area I'm concerned about is the freshman student who may have made a bad school choice for whatever reason and changes their mind after freshman year.”
Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Nunzio Campanile, football coach at Bergen Catholic
“I’m glad they are doing something about it. But, I really think that it’s very punitive to the kids that are transferring legitimately. It’s unfair to a kid that has to move because his father changes jobs or something like that. It’s a very small number of kids that are transferring for athletic purposes, even though they are the high-profile kids.”
More from Campanile...
“It’s not fair. Basically because certain people circumvent the rule, a lot of other people are being punished. I think we can put our heads together and do better than this. I always said, ‘guilty until proven innocent.’ If you look at the motivation, you always know when it’s fishy. You know when it’s legitimate.”
Steve Hockstein | | For NJ Advance Media
Aaron Gratch, girls basketball coach at Gill St. Bernard's
“I just think the state, regardless, doesn’t have enough manpower to watch everybody. They had to have something in place that’s going to be a little more straightforward, whatever it is. Whether you agree or don’t agree, as long as we have something that’s a little better to understand and not have as much gray area.”
Michael Mancuso | For NJ.com
Anthony Corrado, girls basketball coach at Rancocas Valley
"From the coaching perspective, if I have a kid that comes into my district, sits the 30 days, and then we start playing her, and now she can’t play in the playoffs, that’s going to mess up chemistry. I personally hope it never happens to me where I face that situation. That’s a hard team for any to have to face.”
Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Greg Sawyer, wrestling coach at Delsea
“I mean, I understand the reasoning, you don’t want a kid to transfer just because he gets his nose out of joint mid-season. But you have real circumstances where a kid might be having a hardship or a real case to transfer. It’s hard to say which way I lean most, but usually when it’s a matter of more rules and regulations or less regulations I lean on having less regulations and just letting the kids wrestle.”
Scott Faytok | For NJ Advance Media
Rob Stern, former athletic director at Hudson Catholic, assistant football coach at St. Joseph (Mont.), co-head softball coach at Mount St. Dominic
“I worry more about the other kids. The spotlight is on all of the high-profile football and basketball transfers, but I feel bad for that one kid who is a JV player or a marginal sophomore who now moves. I know we’re trying to hang our hats on something, but what about that one kid. Are we doing the wrong thing by those kind of kids? Are we hurting the larger group by trying to stop a few?”
Bruce Winter | Easton Express-Times
Steve Siracusa, boys basketball coach at Scotch Plains-Fanwood
Siracusa (at left) played high school basketball at New Providence.
"It is unfortunate for the players and families that transfer for all the right reasons, however I feel that there are many players and programs that are using student transfers for athletic advantages. As a former player and now coach in Union County, I've witnessed many kids through the years allowed to change schools with no repercussions. It's affecting the teams and the programs that are trying to do the right thing all the time."
NJ Advance Media
Daniel Antonelli, athletic director at Clayton
“It is almost like a catch-22. The problem is that we are now punishing student athletes whose parents move for financial reasons or job relocations. On the other hand, schools and programs kind of forced the NJSIAA’s hand with the amount of transfers that have been going on throughout the state in the past six or seven years.”
Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
More on the transfer rule
Below are two links for extended coverage of the transfer rule story. The first is an op-ed written by NJSIAA Executive Director Steve Timko and the second is an in-depth report on the specifics of the rule by Matt Stypulkoski
• NJSIAA Chief: It's time to better enforce student-athlete transfer rules | Opinion
• NJSIAA implements new rule requiring all athletes to sit 30 days
Ad Choices