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How Nunzio Campanile vs NJSIAA transfer rule will shape landscape of NJ high school sports

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Shifting conference landscapes, players jumping from school to school all for the next big thing (read: paycheck), we’re seeing college sports transform to the semi-pro variety right before our eyes.

New Jersey high school sports is following the same path.

While you were enjoying your Memorial Day weekend, a fundamental part of New Jersey high school sports was challenged by Nunzio Campanile, the former Bergen Catholic head football coach (and former head Syracuse and Rutgers coach), saying that his son, listed as “M.C.” in court filings, should not have to sit out for transferring as a senior from Bergen Catholic to Ramsey High School.

The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA), after years of trying to impose a sit period on student athletes who transfer, finally got out of the transfer business for the most part last May, giving kids one “free transfer” unless they were seniors, who would have to sit out a portion of their season.

The complaint filed in N.J. Superior Court states it is not fair to treat M.C. differently just because he’s a senior.

The underlying truth about the transfer portal and kids (in high school and college) is that it’s not right to dictate to a player where they have to play. If you want to walk out of your job today and go work somewhere else, you can. Why don’t athletes get the same opportunity to do what they love, where they want? Coaches certainly don’t mind changing jobs − we just don’t call that transferring.

No one loves high school sports more than Nunzio Campanile and his entire family. M.C. was playing for his uncle Vito Campanile at Bergen Catholic. The motivation is probably that M.C. will get more playing time at Ramsey (because don’t you think Vito also has a vested interest in his nephew and would tell him the truth?) and perhaps go on to get a shot at playing in college.

The complaint filed by attorney Patrick Jennings (no stranger to beating the NJSIAA in court) lists Campanile’s residence as Oakland. So why can’t M.C. just go to Indian Hills or Ramapo? My belief is the Campaniles have a prior − and strong − relationship with Rams coach Adam Baeira, and Ramsey is one of those public school football programs with a great track record of sending kids to colleges for football.

To Nunzio, it has to look like a win-win.

The full membership of the NJSIAA voted to keep the restrictions on senior transfers in place, trying to maintain some sense of loyalty to high school sports. The fear is, jeez, what’s to stop a kid from transferring wherever they want, whenever they want?

News flash: Super teams already exist in New Jersey high school sports (they’re called non-public schools) and kids are already transferring to and from all the time.

And news flash: Fans still care. Did free agency kill Major League Baseball? Did it hurt the NFL? No. Last time I checked, the NFL was still minting money. MLB has some franchises that spend big (New York Yankees) and some who don’t (Oakland Athletics), but retains a degree of magic each summer when the pennant race blossoms.

I understood the sit period for senior transfers. I was happy when the NJSIAA did it. I always felt you needed some deterrent for kids (I wonder if you asked Nunzio how many games would be fair to sit out, what he would say − is it two?), and I never understood why the NJSIAA never played the card more that it was important for kids who transfer to have a short sit-out period while they acclimate academically. When you get a new job, they don’t give you the passwords to the database within the first 10 minutes, do they? Is it really that big a deal to have to sit? Would the judge look at this and say, it’s still education-based athletics, so sitting out is fair?

And besides, playing high school sports alone isn’t the pathway to a college scholarship anymore. There are showcases, camps, recruiting visits, highlight films. Whether M.C. plays eight games of high school football or four in the regular season really may not sway a school from making a scholarship offer.

So does the NJSIAA play that card? Does it say, ‘We feel like our sit period doesn’t harm an athlete’s chance of playing at the next level’? Or does it say, ‘These are our rules, too bad’?

I don’t think they win this case, but then what? What’s to stop a similar case from hitting the courts in New York? Connecticut? South Carolina? A major precedent could be set.

High school sports already exists in a different form than it did 10, 20 years ago. A big chunk of its essence was destroyed by club teams and private coaches. Yes, at the small-school level, it’s still romantic with three-sport athletes and classic rivalries, but at other schools, it’s about getting looks and “going D1.” Of course, once you get to college, then you transfer to a second school… or a third.

Letting M.C. go won’t kill high school sports. Letting kids transfer wherever whenever won’t kill it either. There’s only so many spots, and above all, kids just want to play (and parents want them to go to places where they will).

It’ll all work itself out. In fact, once you accept that high school sports isn’t going back to the old days, you’ll see that it’s evolved into something awesome, competitive, dynamic and special. Giving student-athletes the freedom to choose where they play is a good thing.

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