Eligibility Issues Plagued Black Horse Pike School District Before Timber Creek Investigation

Gloucester Township, NJ -- Questions about the residencies and eligibility requirements of student athletes in the Black Horse Pike Regional School District pre-date the investigation into those issues involving the Timber Creek Regional High School football team that took place over the summer, the Courier Post reports.

Superintendent of Schools Brian Repici told Camden County Prosecutor’s Office Detective Grace Clodfelter during this summer’s investigation that allegations about Timber Creek coach Rob Hinson had been going on for a while, and that he spoke to Hinson about the issues, according to the report.

In October of 2014, the Board of Education went into executive session to discuss eligibility requirements for athletes in the district, which also includes Highland and Triton. The minutes don’t specify which sport or school the district is discussing, according to the report.

The district then investigated the residencies of at least two Timber Creek football players during the 2014-15 academic year, and those students ultimately withdrew from the school, according to the report.

This summer’s investigation was prompted by anonymous tips from a group called Stop Taking Our Players (S.T.O.P.).

The letter was also sent to the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, the Gloucester Township Chief of Police, the Mayor of Gloucester Township, several representatives of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (N.J.S.I.A.A.) and members of the press.

The group of parents, educators, coaches, game officials, administrators and attorneys accused the football program’s coaches of illegally recruiting athletes and misrepresenting local addresses for students from outside the district so that those students could play for the school’s football teams that won championships in 2011, 2012 and 2015.

On Sept. 9, the prosecutor’s office announced there would be no criminal charges filed in the case, but it had “uncovered residency discrepancies in transfer documents submitted to the school district.”

All evidence associated with the residency rule violations were forwarded to the NJSIAA, which was still investigating the issue as of Monday, according to the report.

The forfeiture of games and championships won by the program remains a possibility, pending the outcome of the NJSIAA investigation.